何謂心理創傷
心理創傷的形成，是個人經歷一些創傷事件，而此事件對當事人的影響，超出其情緒、能力可接受的範圍，繼而令當事人感到對人和事都失去控制感，亦無法管理內在的情緒狀態。創傷事件例子：與父母分離、父母離婚；親朋長期病患、突然死亡、自殺；面對持續暴力環境、性侵犯；天災人禍 (如：火災、地震、交通意外) 等。當事人在經歷創傷事件前並未有任何心理創傷徵狀，但在經歷創傷事件後，可能引發情緒或身體的反應，如：
- 感到不安、焦慮、受驚
- 情緒波動、煩躁
- 常常想起特殊事件或創傷經歷的片段
- 難以集中精神、精神恍惚
- 心跳加速
- 呼吸困難
- 飲食失調
- 失眠、難以入睡、早醒或容易驚醒
- 對喜愛的事情失去興趣
遇上創傷事件，出現以上的情緒或身體反應是常見的。一般來說，這些反應可能會維持一段時間，當事件平息後，上述徵狀應會逐漸減少，生活情況亦會正常下來。但如果情緒及身體不良狀況持續並影響日常生活，每當想起或接觸到與創傷事件有關的情景時，感到強烈的心理困擾或生理反應，就必須及早尋求專業人士的協助。
What is Trauma?
Trauma is often the result of an overwhelming amount of stress that exceeds one’s ability to cope, or integrate the emotions involved with that experience. Trauma may result from a single distressing experience or recurring events of being overwhelmed that can be precipitated in weeks, years, or even decades as the person struggles to cope with the immediate circumstances, eventually leading to serious, long-term negative consequences, examples of traumatic events: separation from parents, divorce of parents; chronic illnesses of relatives and friends, sudden death, suicide; facing persistent violent environment, sexual assault, natural disasters and man-made disasters (such as fire, earthquake, traffic accident), etc.
Trauma differs between individuals, according to their subjective experiences, people will react to similar traumatic events differently. After experiencing the traumatic event, it may trigger emotional or physical reactions, such as:
- Feeling upset, anxious, frightened
- Mood swings
- Difficult to concentrate
- Breathing difficulty
- Eating disorder
- Insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, waking up early or easily awakened
- Lose interest in what you love
It is common to experience the above reactions after a traumatic event. These reactions may last for a period of time. When the incident subsides, the above-mentioned symptoms should gradually decrease and life will become normal. However, if your emotional and physical conditions persist and affect daily life, you must seek for professional help as soon as possible.