mgg2602-summary

MGG202X – Sexual Trauma Exam Summaries Page 1 of 87 THEME ONE - DEFINING STRESS, CRISIS AND TRAUMA Stress: The strain we feel at different times in our lives or in different situations. A set of external forces impinging on an individual (unemployment, high crime rate) A set of psychological and physiological reactions experienced – sweaty hands, racing heart, negative self-talk. Nerves, anxiety, panic, tension, pressure. Stress should be considered an opportunity for growth; the spark that pushes us to challenge the situations we find ourselves in and to find new ways of coping. The extent to which the individual experiences stress depends on: The event itself The individual’s personality The individual’s ability to cope Crisis: A normal reaction that an individual has to a difficult experience that they have not had to face before. When a person is in a crisis they feel confused, overwhelmed and unable to cope. It may be an external event - work related, losing money; or an internal event caused by development – becoming a wife etc. Crisis can be a turning point – an opportunity for an individual to discover and use inner strengths to adjust to a changing world, find relevant supportive resources and learn new skills that can be generalised to resolve future crises. Trauma: Situations “in which the victims are rendered powerless and great danger is involved ” A profound deviation from normal life experiences Sudden, overwhelming and unanticipated. Individual experiences fear, helplessness. Loss of control and extreme powerlessness. The trauma inducing situations suggests a threat of injury or death of the person or others around them. Expected loss – parent, job. Loosing several family members, or an accident, natural disaster = unexpected, overwhelming, out of the ordinary. Judith Herman: “Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they overwhelm the ordinary human adaptions to life” Involve threats to life or bodily integrity, or close personal encounter with violence and death. Individual feels helplessness and terror