What is Trauma?

A trauma is:

• A threatening event that makes you realize you could have died or been seriously injured.
  
  
• An event that makes you feel powerless, helpless and paralyzed.
  
  
• Sudden and overwhelming. It owns you, you don't own it.
  
  
• A time when you experience extreme fear, even if only for a short while.
  
  
• A time when you cannot think clearly.
  
  
• More than stress. Stress does not have the sudden and life-threatening quality that trauma has.
  
  
• A shock to the system, which is why it affects the whole system and creates a state of emergency.
  
  
• An event with a predictable aftermath.