A.V. Flox

“The "helping" professions tend to describe trauma in terms of the event that caused it, instead of defining it in its own terms. Since we don't have a way to accurately define trauma, it can be difficult to recognize.

The official definition that psychologists and psychiatrists use to diagnose trauma is that it is caused by a stressful occurrence "that is outside the range of usual human experience, and that would be markedly distressing to almost anyone." This definition encompasses the following unusual experiences: "serious threat to one's life or physical integrity; serious threat or harm to one's children, spouse, or other close relatives or friends; sudden destruction of one's home or community; seeing another person who is or has recently been seriously injured or killed as the result of an accident or physical violence."

This description is somewhat useful as a starting point, but it is also vague and misleading. Who can say what is "outside the range of usual human experience", or "markedly distressing to almost anyone"? The events mentioned in the definition are helpful qualifiers, but there are many other potentially traumatizing events that fall into gray areas. Accidents, falls, illnesses, and surgeries that the body unconsciously perceives as threatening are often not consciously regarded as outside the range of usual human experience. However, they are often traumatizing. In addition, rapes, drive-by shootings, and other tragedies occur frequently in many communities. Though they may be considered inside the range of usual experience, rapes and shootings will always be traumatic.

The healing of trauma depends upon the recognition of its symptoms. Because traumatic symptoms are largely the result of primitive responses, they are often difficult to recognize. People don't need a definition of trauma; we need an experiential sense of how it feels. [ ... ] People who have experienced trauma of [great] magnitude really know what it is, and their responses to it are basic and primitive. [ ... A mother who witnesses her child struck by a car presents with symptoms that are] brutally clear and compelling. For many of us, however, the symptoms are more subtle. We can learn to identify a traumatic experience by exploring our own reactions. It has a feel that is unmistakable once it is identified.”
― Peter A. Levine, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

“Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.”
― Peter A. Levine