Psychology

Psychological trauma is both quantitatively and qualitatively different from regular types of stress and anxiety. It involves considerable changes to the normal functionality of the brain. Persons suffering from trauma or PTSD may no longer be able to exercise control of their emotions or make sense of their world. PTSD is a complex, long-lasting, and severely debilitating form of mental illness.

Psychological trauma can be triggered by extraordinarily stressful events that shatter an individuals ability to cope with reality. Feelings of insecurity, vulnerability, helplessness and loneliness take hold of the mind. Natural disasters, war experiences, serious accidents, physical, sexual or emotional abuse, violent or an unnatural death of a loved one, serious health problems, severely debilitating or life-threatening diseases, extreme poverty or other forms of physical deprivation, crime, terrorism  all these can lead to trauma.

Symptoms
Psychological trauma subjects an individual to great amounts of stress and distress. It can lead to ASD (Acute Stress Disorder), which in turn, if unchecked, can lead to PTSD. PTSD can be considered as an advanced or severe form of psychological trauma. Minor forms of trauma, on the other hand, lead to what is known as adjustment disorder which can be characterized by such symptoms as persistent anxiety, depression, behavioral disturbances or other maladaptive reactions (guidetopsychology.com, 2009).

Trauma can manifest itself through any of a wide variety of symptoms. On the physical level, it could manifest as listlessness, unusual physical fatigue, decrease of libido, insomnia, lack of appetite, and unexplained bodily pains. On a mental level the symptoms could be extreme depression, despair, hopelessness, feelings of helplessness, powerlessness, and lack of control, intense anxiety, panic attacks, outbursts of crying or anger, dread, compulsive and obsessive behaviors, increased irritability, proneness to anger, emotional numbness and withdrawal, loss of religious faith and resentment toward God or existence. Additionally, at a cognitive level, memory, decision-making skills, and the ability to concentrate can be affected (Smith  Segal, 2008).

Intense forms of trauma, such as those precipitated by a natural disaster, battleground action, car or airplane accidents, can lead to PSTD and involve an even broader set of symptoms. Both milder and intense forms considerably overlap each other and there cannot be a clear demarcation. The symptoms of intense trauma are usually categorized as PTSD symptoms, and fall under three heads 1) re-experiencing the trauma  compulsive thoughts, flashbacks and nightmares with associated physical manifestations,  spontaneous flurry of images and emotions related to the traumatic event 2) emotional numbing and avoidance  partial amnesia, avoidance of situations similar in character to the traumatic event (for example, avoiding driving after a car accident), loss of interest in activities which were previously enjoyed, intense aloofness, detachment, experiences of guilt, uncontrollable outbursts of grief, distorted perception of time 3) increased arousal  edginess, jumpiness, restlessness, hyper-vigilance, obsession with death (NIMH 2009).

Re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms are usually triggered either by a persons own thoughts and feelings or by objects, situations, and persons around him or her these objects and person may or may not be associated with the traumatic event. Most of the hyperarousal symptoms, on the other hand, can be present constantly. The tendencies to manifest all these categories of symptoms take deep roots inside a persons mind and character, disrupting his or her routine and the capacity to handle simple daily tasks.

It may be noted that victims of trauma might present much more diffuse and subtle long-term psychological problems that are not usually labeled under PTSD. Such problems may include feeling of hollowness within, lack of a sense of personal agency, serious perceptual aberrations in regard to oneself and world, attention disorders etc. A significant proportion of these trauma victims who do not manifest overt trauma or PTSD symptoms may go undiagnosed (Trappler 2009).

Etiology
The human brain has three major parts, the cortex, the limbic system, and the brain stem. The cortex region of the brain, which includes frontal cortex that is the seat of higher thinking skills, is the outer area of the brain. It constitutes some of the most recently evolved portions of the brain which are unique to human beings. The limbic system is located at the center of the brain and is the region of emotions. The brain stem is the most primitive part of the brain, it handles certain basic survival functions at an unconscious level. It is also the seat of basic drives and instincts of an organism.

Researches done on scanning the brains of trauma patients have revealed that the experience of trauma is accompanied by recognizable changes in the brain structure. The region of intersection of the frontal cortex, limbic system and the brain stem is most likely to be affected in a trauma patient (Smith  Segal, 2008). It has also been found that people with a wide variety of psychological and behavioral problems show brain irregularities that are analogous to those seen in trauma patients. PTSD is a result of traumatic stress overloading and overwhelming the nervous system of a person. The resulting shock is likely to cause a dissociation between the three parts of the brain. As a consequence, the rational part of the mind can no longer oversee the emotional part of the brain (Gazley, 2007).

Treatment
Approaches to treatment of trauma and PTSD can fall under two broad categories psychological therapies (psychotherapycounselingcognitive therapy) and medication. Frequently, both these approaches go hand in hand. A basic form of psychotherapy is talk therapy, which involves discussing extensively with a therapist on matters in any way related to trauma as well as life in general. Talk therapies also involve elements of counseling. There are a wide variety of other therapies that deal with PTSD. A very popular approach which is increasingly becoming the treatment of choice for PTSD is called cognitive behavior therapy or CBT. CBT has a set of core components that include education, anxiety management, and exposure, all of these targeting PTSD symptoms from various directions. In exposure therapy, people are encouraged to face and experience the trauma from safety, in any way that is possible (Dass-Brailsford, 2007). This could allay fear. For example, the client may be asked to vividly imagine the pictures and scenes related to trauma for prolonged periods of time. The patient would in effect be re-living the experience.

Conclusion
The accelerating pace of modernity during the second half of the twentieth century has brought about greater levels of stress and strain to many people across the world. Certainly, people feel more lonely and insecure living in the modern-day concrete jungles than if they lived in small emotionally-nurturing family-oriented communities. There seems to be a growing awareness as well as an increased incidence of PTSD in the recent times. A relatively new approach to treatment called cognitive behavior therapy or CBT is virtually revolutionizing the field of PTSD treatment. The focus of an ample amount of current research related to psychological trauma and PTSD is on improving the standards and testing the efficacy of CBT.