Impacts of trauma
Similar to grief, responses to trauma tend to vary from person to person and can change over time. While the impacts are sometimes temporary, others may linger. If you’ve experienced trauma in the past, your earlier responses may reappear and complicate your current trauma. Trauma may result in grief lasting longer.
Changing world view
Profound experiences of personal grief and trauma can lead to questions about the way you have thought of the world and humanity. This may lead to questioning assumptions about life such as:
That the world is a safe place
I always felt that my house was the safest place in the world, but after seeing so much on deployment, I’m not sure there are any safe places. - Military Veteran
I always believed that God would keep me and my comrades safe, but after they were killed, I’m not so sure. - Military Veteran
I thought I could still look into the world and see the good things in people, but it wasn't that. - RCMP Veteran
That it’s possible to explain and make sense of events
Why did this accident occur? That question keeps rolling around in my head and I can’t stop it. - Military Veteran
And I think part of the challenge is our inability to understand what goes on when an individual goes out and kills 22 people on a rampage dressed as a Mountie, or another decides that he’s gonna take women off the streets and feed them to his pigs. And we’re left with trying to figure out, you know, why do people act this way? - RCMP Veteran
That good deeds lead to good outcomes
She was such a good person. Why did this have to happen to her? - Military Veteran
Attending to Occupational Stress Injuries
I said, “I’m fine, I’m good to go.” Turns out I wasn’t as good as a thought I was. The stuff I’d seen… the trauma I’d had… it really came back to bite me in the ass. - Military Veteran
If Occupational Stress Injuries (OSIs) aren’t recognized or understood, just like physical wounds they can fester and result in greater suffering.
More resources
- Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families