Traumatic Reactions Research Articles

Seeking balance between contradictory experiences - therapists treating survivors of sexual violence

ABSTRACT With the prevalence of sexual violence in most countries and its increase in Sweden, it is important to understand the development of secondary traumatic reactions among professionals who work with sexually violated clients. The aim of this study was to describe the meaning of therapists’ personal experiences when treating survivors of sexual violence. We conducted a qualitative interview study of therapists in Sweden (N = 11) using thematic analysis and adding a phenomenological openess towards the phenomenon. The participants were all women, with different professional backgrounds and with further education in areas such as psychotherapy, sexology, trauma treatment, and forensic nursing. The essential meaning of their work could be described as a continuum where therapists were seeking balance between contradictory experiences, further described in four themes. They experienced their work as highly meaningful, and the use of self-care strategies helped to maintain protective boundaries. However, the incomprehensible violence they were indirectly exposed to, challenged their protective boundaries, thus causing negative reactions for the therapists. Increased understanding of the impact of work on therapists’ professional and private lives is crucial, and the need for therapists to have a model or framework of meaning and explanation for sexual violence that ties contradictory experiences together.

Discrimination, Traumatic Stress, and Coping Among Muslim International Students

ABSTRACT There are a significant number of Muslim international students in the United States. Little is known about these students’ experiences and mental health. This study examined the relationships among discrimination, posttraumatic stress, religious coping, and social connectedness. The sample consisted of 133 Muslim international students, with 50% reported being women and the average age being 27. The results showed that discrimination predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms above and beyond general stress, and that less social connectedness to the United States was associated with more perceived discrimination and trauma reactions. Individuals with more visible markers, like wearing a hijab, reported more experiences of discrimination, and women reported more post-traumatic stress symptoms than men. The results highlight the importance for counseling professionals to assess for trauma, discrimination, and post-traumatic stress symptoms when working with Muslim international students. Recommendations for intervention and support for these students are provided.

Trauma reactivation 50 years later: Yom Kippur war veterans after the October 7 attack

Fifty years after the Yom Kippur War began with a surprise attack, the October 7 terror attack caught Israelis off guard in yet another surprise attack. The current study assessed the extent to which Yom Kippur War veterans thought about the linkage between the two wars, and whether such thoughts were associated with trauma reactivation and exacerbation of distress. A web-based random sample of 297 Yom Kippur War veterans (age range 68–88) completed questionnaires five months before (T1) and two months after the October 7 attack (T2). The results showed an increase in probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rates due to the Yom Kippur War, rising from 5.4 % in T1 to 13.1 % in T2. Rates of clinical depression and anxiety also rose. The study found that a significant number of veterans experienced intrusive thoughts linking the two wars. These intrusive thoughts increased the risk for probable PTSD and clinical levels of depression and anxiety, even after accounting for pre-attack symptoms. The study is among the first to show that intrusive linkage is quite frequent among older veterans who confronted another event that resonates with their focal trauma. Supporting the stress resolution perspective, this linkage increased the risk for trauma reactivation.

Childhood Trauma and Remembrance: Weaponised PTSD in Glaydah Namukasa’s The Deadly Ambition

ABSTRACT Defining crime within the prism of personal responsibility without recourse to its triggers engenders post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in victims of unfair hearings. While literary studies interrogating blame for traumatic reactions on the basis of personal responsibility or choice abound, studies tracing traumatic misdemeanour to a first-cause threshold of vulnerability remain scarce. Relying on the intersection of cause-effect reactions, this study identifies unresolved childhood trauma as the cause of the weaponised PTSD in Glaydah Namukasa’s The Deadly Ambition (2006). Evan Busagwa is identified as a victim of an inerasable childhood trauma which develops gradually into PTSD and unfortunately gets weaponised against the society he believes deprives him of love as a child. Julia Kristeva’s Abjection Theory, which accounts for human reaction to the dysfunctionality of meaning in relational difference, is used to justify the repercussions of a tormented childhood on Busagwa’s adulthood. Namukasa engages the transmogrification of a personal ambition from its benign state to an awful deadly state. Having deferred to his parents as a young boy, Busagwa forces deference on the vulnerable as an adult. Through Busagwa’s characterisation, the writer suggests that a good ambition could mutate into something awfully negative if its formative stage is distorted beyond a person’s control.

The Consequences of Misdiagnosing Race-Based Trauma Response in Black Men: A Critical Examination

ABSTRACT Mental illness is a significant public health concern prevalent in America. Over one in five U.S. adults are affected, yet less than half receive treatment. Among African Americans, only one in three seek treatment with statically lower rates among Black males. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis is crucial for appropriate treatment, while misdiagnosis leads to stigma, discrimination, and untreated illness. This paper examines the implications of misdiagnosing trauma responses in Black men, highlighting systemic biases that impede suitable care and perpetuate negative narratives. The authors propose a conceptual framework incorporating historical trauma, discrimination, and traumatic stress reactions, emphasizing the need for cultural competence and humility. This framework involves public narratives that influence perceptions and judgments, reviewing research evidence, advocating for competent trauma assessments, community empowerment, and future research directions. This paper underscores the importance of understanding and addressing the unique challenges Black men face in mental health diagnosis and treatment.

Exploring Medical Student Experiences of Trauma in the Emergency Department: Opportunities for Trauma-informed Medical Education.

During the third-year emergency medicine (EM) clerkship, medical students are immersed in traumatic incidents with their patients and clinical teams. Trauma-informed medical education (TIME) applies trauma-informed care (TIC) principles to help students manage trauma. We aimed to qualitatively describe the extent to which students perceived the six TIME domains as they navigated critical incidents during their EM clerkship. We employed a constructivist, modified grounded theory approach to explore medical students' experiences. We used the critical incident technique to elicit narratives to better understand the six TIME domains as they naturally appear in the clerkship. Participants were asked to describe a traumatic incident they experienced during the clerkship, followed by the clerkship's role in helping them manage the incident. Using the framework method, transcripts were analyzed 1) deductively by matching transcript excerpts to relevant TIME domains and 2) inductively by generating de novo themes to capture factors that affected students' handling of trauma during critical incidents. Twelve participants were enrolled and interviewed in July 2022. "Safety" was the most frequently described TIME domain, whereas "Gender, Cultural, and Historical issues" and "Peer Support" were discussed least. Inductive analysis revealed themes that hindered or supported their ability to manage traumatic experiences, which were grouped into three categories: 1) student interactions with the learning environment: complex social determinants of health, inequalities in care, and overt discrimination; 2) student interactions with patients: ethically ambiguous care, witnessing acute patient presentations, and reactivation of past trauma; and 3) student interactions with supervisors: power dynamics, invalidation of contributions, role-modeling, and student empowerment. The six TIME domains are represented in students' perceptions of immediate, stressful critical incidents during their EM clerkship, with "Safety" being the most commonly described; however, the degree to which these domains are supported in students' experiences of the EM clerkship differ, and instances of inadequately experienced domains may contribute to student distress. Understanding the EM clerkship through the specific lens of students' experiences of trauma may be an effective strategy to guide curricular changes that promote a supportive learning environment for students in the emergency department.

Trauma-informed approach for bridging ethnic distance in post-conflict societies

The article presents a pilot study based on intervention conducted in Croatia in 2022. Despite intensive peacebuilding efforts, ethnic tensions in post-conflict societies remain high, suggesting that current strategies may be missing critical components. This experiment integrated recent neurophysiological findings, particularly polyvagal theory, into peacebuilding intervention. The intervention involved a two-day seminar in Zagreb, where trauma-informed, body-based techniques were used to address post-war trauma. Participants learnt to recognise and manage trauma reactions by promoting their interoceptive awareness and a felt sense of safety. The seminar included both theoretical and experiential components, focusing on the impact of trauma on the autonomous nervous system and interpersonal dynamics. The study used an experimental design with intervention and control group to investigate the effects of the seminar. Measures included interoceptive awareness, autonomic reactivity, ethnic distance, perspective taking and mental well-being. The results showed that the participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements in interoceptive awareness, particularly in not worrying and emotional awareness subscales compared to the control group. However, ethnic distance scores did not decrease as expected, highlighting the complexity of changing deep-rooted attitudes. The study faced some challenges, including participant recruitment and the short duration of the intervention, which may have limited its effectiveness. Despite these limitations, the findings suggest that integrating trauma-informed approaches into peacebuilding efforts holds promise for improving interethnic relations. Future research should focus on longer interventions and diverse participant groups to better understand the potential of these methods in various contexts.

Psychological Prevention of Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents

The article is devoted to the analysis of psychological factors in the formation of suicidal behavior in adolescents. The following personal characteristics of adolescents are considered that predispose them to suicidal behavior, such as emotionally labile, cycloid and hysterical types of character accentuation. Character traits of adolescents with borderline personality disorders, such as instability of emotions, impulsivity, and a tendency toward self-aggression, can provoke suicidal intentions and attempts. Social isolation, rejection by peers, and conflicts in the family can lead to psychological trauma and suicidal reactions in adolescence. Suicidal behavior in adolescence can be a reaction to traumatic situations associated with violence, abuse, and sexual harassment. Various methods of psychological prevention of suicidal behavior are considered. An effective method for preventing suicidal behavior in adolescents is the formation of resilience and resource states of the individual, and early diagnosis of risk groups plays an important role in the prevention of suicidal behavior. The emphasis is on the need to increase the psychological competence of parents, teachers and specialists in recognizing and preventing suicidal behavior, as well as on interdepartmental interaction and coordination of services at all levels of the prevention system.

Utilizing Social Media to Increase Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. There have been many case studies about PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). PTSD itself is a mental disorder that appears after a person experiences or witnesses an unpleasant moment. It is stated that PTSD symptoms are shown during the teenage period at around the age of 12-19 years old because, in this current time, adolescents tend to show impulsive or aggressive behavior. The problem lies in the fact that teenagers are not aware of such symptoms as trauma reactions which if left unchecked, will only get worse. We devise a social media platform that can help decrease the burden of teenagers dealing with PTSD symptoms. Adding knowledge and increasing awareness is also our goal in creating the media platform. Recognizing this critical need, we envision a social media platform specifically designed to address the challenges faced by teenagers grappling with PTSD. This platform wouldn't be just another digital landscape; it would be a lighthouse piercing the storm, a safe harbor where understanding and support converge.

Caregiver Experiences with a Trauma-Informed Parenting Program: Examining the Resource Parent Curriculum.

Young people in out-of-home care often have trauma histories that negatively impact their development and well-being. As a result, resource parents often face challenges meeting the needs of these youth, which can be addressed by ensuring access to effective trauma-informed training. This qualitative study examined the impacts and helpfulness of a trauma-informed program (Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC)) designed for resource parents who care for a young person involved with child welfare. Twenty resource parents from two child welfare agencies in Ontario, Canada participated in focus groups and interviews after completing the RPC program. Results of a thematic analysis indicated that, through use of relevant materials from the program, resource parents reported a better understanding of trauma reactions in their resource child. This improved understanding influenced their parenting approach when addressing their child's behaviours through consideration of their underlying needs. The findings can be used to support trauma-informed programming for resource parents within child welfare.

Reactivation of trauma in an inadequately structured person

IntroductionThe person is constantly exposed to various types of psychosocial stress, and what will be the course and outcome of the reaction, in addition to other factors, primarily depends on the structure of the person (cognitive, conative, affective and somatic characteristics).ObjectivesPresentation of a case of an inadequately structured person (a 29-year-old girl) who experiences an emotional loss, thus reactivating a trauma experienced many years ago (content-like emotional loss). The activation of traumatic memory as a center for generating a complex of pathological symptoms is provoked due to the personal structural inability of a person to legally reorganize, reintegrate and absorb stress.MethodsFor a complete psychological exploration of an organization, personality dynamics, symptoms, defenses, motives, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, etc. I have applied: MMPI-202, NEO PI-R, Millon’s test, PIE, ZS and Azinger aggression scale.ResultsThe result is an inadequately structured person of the avoidant type: introverted, vulnerable, disturbingly self-centered, constantly alert to prevent his impulses and affectional compunctions from leading to a repetition of pain and suffering experienced in the past, denying his feelings to maintain interpersonal distance, sensitive, helpless in an aggressive environment, low self-esteem and self-confidence, with weak capacities to overcome stress, etc. Anxiety and depressive symptoms are dominant. Manifest symptomatology is elaborated.ConclusionsIn a person with an inadequate structure, there is an increased vulnerability, therefore applying an exploratory approach to people with a stressful condition in daily professional practice is a necessary need in order to more effectively, comprehensively treat the current and previously memorized stressful reactions with an emphasis on the highly personalized response to stress.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Trauma-Informed Approach to Qualitative Interviewing in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Research.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is recognized as a public health concern owing to its chronic nature, association with suicide risk, and its growing prevalence rates across the globe. Including individuals living with NSSI in research is crucial as it offers opportunities to give primacy to participant voices and insights, further guiding therapeutic interventions. Research has established an association between history of traumatic events and adverse childhood experiences with subsequent risk of NSSI. When planning a qualitative research study with individuals with potential trauma history, researchers need to be aware of and sensitive to potential re-traumatization and distressing emotions that participants may experience during interviews, as well as complex trauma reactions that may affect individuals after study participation. The article emphasizes that researchers be cognizant of the multifaceted nature of trauma and how it can impact individuals and communities and be sensitive in their approach to interviewing vulnerable groups such as individuals with experiences of NSSI. The authors propose adopting a trauma-informed approach to ethically plan and conduct qualitative interviews exploring NSSI experiences. Trauma-informed recommendations for preparing and carrying out specific steps during different stages of NSSI interviews are detailed.

Virtual reality and noise canceling headphone distraction during pediatric dermatologic procedures.

Pain and anxiety related to medical procedures have long been recognized as a significant healthcare concern. If a patient's procedural pain and anxiety are not addressed, long-term physical and psychological sequelae including increased perceived pain, anxiety, disruptive behavior, trauma reactions, or refusal of future procedures can occur. The objective of our study was to assess the utility of a virtual reality (VR) headset or noise-canceling headphones (HP) compared to treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing pain and anxiety during pediatric dermatology procedures. Results indicated a significant difference between pre- versus post-procedure anxiety in the VR and HP groups but not the TAU group suggesting non-pharmacologic technology-based interventions such as VR and headphones may reduce patients' anxiety during pediatric dermatology procedures.

New sports rules combined with sertraline on Posttraumatic Stress of volleyball players

BackgroundIn competitive sports, trauma and stress reactions are common problems faced by athletes. In order to explore methods to alleviate post-traumatic stress, research focuses on the effectiveness of combining new sports rules with medication treatment.Subjects and MethodsThe study selected 66 volleyball athletes with post-traumatic stress as the research subjects and divided them into an experimental group and a control group. The athletes in the research group received training on new sports rules and personalized sertraline therapy. The control group of athletes continued to receive traditional sports rules training and received placebo treatment at the same dose and time. During the research process, a standardized post-traumatic stress scale was used to evaluate the two groups. Collected data were processed and analyzed by the statistical method SPSS22.0.ResultsAfter a period of experimentation, the volleyball players in the research group showed a decrease in their PTSD scores from the initial score of 80 to 55 after being treated with the new sports rules combined with sertraline. The players in the control group, after receiving traditional sports rules and placebo treatment, experienced a decrease in their PTSD scores from an initial score of 90 to 75.ConclusionsThe research results indicate that the combination of new sports rules and personalized drug therapy has a significant positive impact on post-traumatic stress athletes. New rules and drug therapy can effectively alleviate athletes’ post-traumatic stress response.

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE IN CRISIS WORK BASED ON THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF MALAYSIAN COUNSELORS

Unconditional acceptance is one of the core attitudes in helping professionals to establish successful therapeutic relationships. Despite unconditional acceptance was accepted in most helping professional settings, it received less attention in academic scientific research due to scholars' disagreement regarding unconditional acceptance as a single separable construct from empathy and genuineness as proposed in person-centred therapy. The knowledge gap led to the implementation of this study, employing a qualitative method, specifically descriptive phenomenology. It aims to describe Malaysian counselors' experience exercising unconditional acceptance while encountering clients from various backgrounds. The thematic analysis revealed that unconditional acceptance encompasses acceptance of the client as a person, acceptance of the client's reality experience as part of them, and acceptance of the client's traumatic reaction. The findings indicate by years of experience, Malaysian counselors show high competency in practicing unconditional acceptance. It was found that unconditional acceptance requires counselors to have empathy, increasing their ability to comprehend the clients' situation and justify their emotional reactions. Counselors especially novice counselors need proper training and guidance to increase their ability to unconditionally accept their clients, their life experience, and their traumatic reactions. This study contributes to deepening the comprehension of implementing unconditional acceptance in counseling settings. It also provides new perspectives on improving the training curriculum for counselors in Malaysia, specifically in strengthening their skills in exercising unconditional acceptance and empathy attitudes.

Racial Identity Attitudes and Vicarious Traumatization from Undue Police Violence on Anticipatory Traumatic Reaction Among Black Americans.

Although the viral nature of videos that capture violent and racialized policing of Black Americans in the United States can increase awareness, exposure to race-based violence can result in vicarious traumatization, particularly among Black Americans. The relationship between anticipatory traumatic reactions (ATRs) and racial identity attitudes is not clearly addressed in the extant body of literature. The current study addresses this research disparity by first analyzing group mean differences among Black Americans (N = 138) who were assigned to audiovisual, written, and imaginal exposure groups. The current study also used a cluster analysis of Black Americans to examine the differences between racial identity attitudes and ATRs following media exposure to undue police violence. Results from the study indicated that no differences in ATRs existed based on types of media exposure. Significant differences across three racial identity clusters existed between ATR in association with attitudes of assimilation, miseducation, self-hatred, anti-dominance, and ethnic-racial salience. Findings from the study suggest that mental health professionals should attend to racial identity attitudes as a relevant factor in how Black American clients experience the psychological impact of media exposure to undue police violence.

A donor safety evidence literature review of the short- and long-term effects of plasmapheresis.

Many blood establishments are expanding plasmapheresis collection capacity to achieve increasing plasma for fractionation volume targets, driven by immunoglobulin product demand. Some adverse events occur in both apheresis and whole blood collection, such as venepuncture-related trauma and vasovagal reactions. Others are specifically related to the apheresis procedure, such as citrate reactions, haemolysis, infiltration and air embolism. Whilst plasmapheresis procedures are generally well tolerated, theoretical longer term donor health considerations, such as the effects on donor plasma protein levels, bone mineral density, iron deficiency and malignancy also require consideration. An evidence-based framework that supports a safe and sustainable increase in the collection of plasma is essential. Our review demonstrates a lack of high-quality evidence on risks and outcomes specifically in plasmapheresis. Whilst conservative procedural controls and donor harm minimization policies will mitigate risk, high-quality evidence is needed to facilitate practice change that is safe and sustainable and maximizes the potential of individual donor differences.

The Missing Ingredient: How Misogyny and the Patriarchy Sabotage our Clinical Practice and Research.

Discussing massive, unrelenting trauma, especially during a global pandemic, when the threat is not only personally affecting you, but also everyone else, is not an easy thing to do. We can see the consequences of two years of being locked inside. People's trauma responses literally came flooding out. It seems that the pandemic tipped us over an abyss that is hard to comprehend. In so many countries there are protests, laws rolling back basic human rights, the threat of fascism, and actual war. There seems to be widespread governmental corruption that cannot stop the favouritism of those who have wealth, and perpetually admonish those who do not. Our world seems very unstable. Change is deeply desired. Yet, this instability is predictable. It is predictable because the systems that created the structures that "run and rule" us are fundamentally destructive and violent. In never-ending ways, the only way that change happens is by utilizing violence as the only way to achieve change. This is the legacy of patriarchy. A system that not only is ruled by one group of people but also tends to be controlled by a very specific type of person. It is a system that cultivates human cruelty, selfishness, and violence. It is a system that is managed by those who do the "best" in violence. Most of us do not work this way but are forced to live this way because of the belief that humans are innately violent, selfish, and self-serving; a myth based on the traumatic reaction of fight. It is a dissociated, relational injury that is a direct result of not having our mothers and fathers able to be mothers and fathers. It is formed in misogyny. There are ways to heal, if one can comprehend what misogyny does to human beings, and what we would be like in its absence.

From student engagement to school engagement of students: toward providing the luxury of engagement to youth involved with the child welfare system

ABSTRACT School engagement is a luxury not often afforded to children involved in the child welfare system. Current definitions of school engagement largely center around three micro-level foci: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive. These definitions rely heavily on the student and their participation in school in prescribed ways that can exclude system-involved youth, leaving little room to consider how life experiences and developmental trajectories interface with how students show up in educational spaces. This perspective of school engagement also lacks socio-ecological considerations that may impact children in the child welfare system, such as frequent school moves, trauma reactions, systemic racism, and insufficient access to structural resources. Each of these influences may affect how a child engages with school and how a school engages with children and families. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the conceptual misalignments of the current approaches to measuring school engagement for youth involved in the child-welfare system and its subsequent implications for practice and research. We present recommendations that may lead to more inclusive and equitable measures of this important “determinant of life success.”

Associations among posttraumatic growth, demographic characteristics, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and trauma type, with a focus on sexual violence.

This study assessed posttraumatic growth (PTG) across multiple trauma types and by demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, education). Moreover, we examined the association between PTG and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as the characteristics and predictors of PTG after sexual violence. A phone survey was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 1,766 Icelandic adults. In total, 1,528 individuals reported having experienced some form of trauma and were included in the analysis, and 563 reported experiencing sexual violence. Interpersonal trauma (e.g., sexual violence, emotional abuse, and domestic violence) was associated with the highest levels of PTG. Moderate levels of PTSD symptoms were associated with the highest levels of PTG, whereas high- or low-level PTSD symptoms were related to less PTG. Women reported significantly more PTG than men, d = 0.16 and survivors of sexual violence reported significantly more PTG than individuals who reported other forms of trauma exposure, d = 0.28. Among sexual violence survivors, no demographic factors were associated with PTG, but cumulative trauma and positive social reactions were significantly related to higher levels of PTG. This study highlights that personal growth can result from aversive experiences and suggests a curvilinear association between PTG and PTSDsymptoms.