I'm in shock, traumatized

Anyone can be exposed to trauma during their lifetime. Generally, it's a brutal, sudden and serious experience that threatens the integrity of the person or their life.

Obviously the experience of a war or a migration journey increases exposure to traumatic events (explosions, death, losing everything, permanent fear, totally uncertain future...).

Trauma results from a violent subjective experience, a loss of control over one's life. Trauma raises awareness of the concrete risk of death.

There are two kinds of trauma:

direct. It affects the person directly and exposes them to death, a death threat, serious injury, or physical or sexual violence. It is a brutal event that directly threatens life or physical integrity; e.g.: war-related events, physical or sexual assault, serious accidents, natural disasters, illness with high risk of mortality, mistreatment...
indirect . It is indirect when the individual witnesses a trauma or learns that it has affected a loved one; e.g.: unexpected, rapid or violent deaths of relatives.

In the case of war, events are particularly violent because they are intentional, with interpersonal violence. In addition, experiences are often multiple as they include what you experience yourself and what happens to loved ones. People who attack other people... It's very complicated and can shatter our vision of the world, justice, good, evil... Such events have a very high risk of leading to post-traumatic stress disorders.

Our personal history, our past also influences the experience of traumatic events. If you have already experienced mistreatment, abuse, persecution, attacks... you're more likely to develop post-traumatic disorders.

However, experiencing trauma does not systematically mean that post-traumatic disorders will develop. We all have a natural ability to adapt to the difficulties of life, each in our own way. In most cases, we recover spontaneously, especially if we have family support, loved ones, a close community...

What is a state of acute stress:

In the days and month following events, you may experience various transitional reactions: in this case, we speak about acute stress. Of course, as long as you continue to experience traumatic events or to be insecure, the symptoms may continue.

These symptoms cause considerable suffering or disrupt the way a person functions.

Description of symptoms of acute stress disorder: intrusion, changes in ideas and mood, avoidance, dissociation, hyper-arousal, flashbacks and recurring dreams of exposure to death or threat of death

Afterwards, if the exposure to traumatic events has ended but the symptoms persist for more than a month, then we're talking about post-traumatic stress disorder.

What is post-traumatic stress disorder?:

Post-traumatic stress disorder is the consequence of trauma-related brain disturbance. Traumatic fear puts the body on alert. It can be difficult to switch off. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a real illness, acknowledged as such.

These symptoms are the same as those of the state of acute stress, but they persist for more than a month:

intrusions: nightmares, flashbacks
avoidance: of situations, emotions, thoughts, people
hyperreactivity: a permanent state of alertness with jumping, irritability, sleep disturbance...
a negative emotional experience: emotional disturbance (guilt, shame, anger, fear, sadness) and/or dissociation