When the body reacts to past experiences, even if the mind does not fully remember or understand why.
First responder trauma refers to the psychological wounds experienced by firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and others who are first to arrive at disaster or accident scenes. While saving others, these individuals can suffer deep harm to their own mental health.
Work-life balance means maintaining a healthy equilibrium between your professional responsibilities and your personal life.
A mental practice that focuses and calms the mind, helping to reduce stress and improve overall well-being.
Vivid and distressing dreams that occur during sleep, often experienced frequently after trauma.
A mind-body practice that combines physical postures, breathing, and meditation, and is effective for stress management.
A crisis is a moment of intense emotional overwhelm when your usual ways of coping just aren't enough to get you through.
An experience where consciousness, memory, identity, and perception become separated or disconnected from one another. It can range from mild everyday experiences to severe clinical conditions.
Post-traumatic growth is when a person grows beyond their previous level and experiences positive changes through the process of overcoming trauma.
Distress signals are the various psychological, behavioral, and physical signs we unconsciously send out when we're struggling emotionally. Recognizing these signals is the first step toward caring for your own mental health and that of the people around you.
Hyper-independence is the tendency to handle everything alone without asking others for help. It's a protective response developed from past wounds that made depending on someone else feel unsafe or frightening.
Polyvictimization refers to experiencing multiple different types of violence or abuse, not just one kind. The more types of victimization overlap, the greater the psychological impact can be.
Interpersonal trauma is trauma that is intentionally inflicted by another person.
A way of dealing with stress, pain, or difficult emotions.
The freeze response is a survival reaction where your body and mind become immobilized when you sense a threat. It's not a failure to act — it's your brain automatically choosing a protective strategy.
Trauma experienced in childhood, especially during early developmental stages, that has wide-ranging effects on overall development.
Survival mode is a state where your body and mind focus solely on surviving during extreme stress or crisis situations.
Sexual abuse involves forcing sexual acts or sexually exploiting someone without their consent. It is a serious form of violence that leaves deep wounds on both the body and the mind.
Time management is a strategy for making efficient use of limited time to reduce stress and increase productivity.
The fawn response is a survival reaction where a person tries to avoid danger by pleasing and appeasing others when they feel threatened. It's a coping pattern that commonly develops in people who experienced trauma during childhood.
A specific, step-by-step coping plan created in advance to prepare for crisis situations. It provides clear behavioral guidelines to follow when urges to self-harm or suicidal thoughts arise.
An attachment wound is a deep emotional scar formed in childhood from relationships with caregivers who were unable to provide consistent safety, comfort, or love when it was needed most.
The opposite of the stress response, the relaxation response is a physiological state where you consciously calm both body and mind.
Secondary trauma is a traumatic stress response that develops from exposure to another person's trauma, even without directly experiencing it yourself.
Self-care refers to activities you consciously do to support your physical, emotional, and mental health.
Self-soothing is the ability to calm and stabilize yourself when you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed. It involves caring for yourself through the five senses or comforting activities.
Conversion Disorder is a meaningful concept in psychology that helps us understand ourselves and others better. It's an important part of emotional well-being and personal growth.
The kindling effect is a phenomenon where repeated stress or trauma makes the brain increasingly sensitive, so that smaller and smaller triggers produce stronger reactions. It's like a spark that more and more easily ignites into a flame.
The fight response is an instinctive survival reaction to perceived threats, where you prepare to confront and resist danger. It shows up as anger, aggression, and confrontational behavior — your body's natural defense mechanism to protect itself.
Shell shock refers to the psychological and physical reactions that emerged after soldiers experienced extreme fear and trauma on the battlefield, and is considered an early concept of what we now call PTSD.
Avoidant coping is a stress management strategy in which a person escapes or distracts themselves from the source of stress or the emotions it triggers, rather than addressing the problem directly.
Emotion-focused coping is a way of dealing with stress by regulating and managing the negative emotions that arise from stressful situations.
The process of getting your emotional energy back after being worn down by caring for others.
Problem-focused coping is a way of dealing with stress by directly trying to solve the problem that is causing it.
Peritraumatic dissociation refers to dissociative experiences that occur during or immediately after a traumatic event. It can feel as though what is happening is occurring to someone else, or as if your sense of time has shifted.
Trauma that can develop when your physical, emotional, or psychological boundaries are repeatedly ignored or crossed.
The psychological burden felt during major life changes such as graduation, starting a job, marriage, or retirement. Even positive changes can become a source of stress.
Transgenerational trauma is when the effects of trauma experienced by one generation are passed down to children and grandchildren. The psychological wounds of parents or grandparents can shape the lives of those who never directly experienced the original events.
When past experiences seem to stay in the body as sensations or reactions.
Role overload is a state of psychological and physical exhaustion that occurs when a person has too many roles and responsibilities to manage at once. It commonly appears when someone must simultaneously fulfill multiple roles at work, home, and in society.
A brain disease linked to repeated head impacts that can later affect memory, mood, and behavior.
A short-term stress response triggered by a specific event, involving rapid physiological changes such as increased heart rate and adrenaline release.
Cumulative Trauma is a meaningful concept in psychology that helps us understand ourselves and others better. It's an important part of emotional well-being and personal growth.
Vicarious trauma is a deep inner transformation — changes to one's worldview, beliefs, and sense of self — that results from cumulative exposure to others' traumatic experiences.
Toxic stress is intense, prolonged stress exposure without a protective adult present, causing serious harm to the developing brain and body.
Stress that stays for a long time and slowly wears down the body and mind.
Sexual trauma is the deep psychological pain and lasting emotional wounds caused by experiences of sexual violence or violation, which continue to affect daily life and wellbeing.
Attachment trauma is a deep psychological wound that occurs when a child's early bond with their primary caregiver is disrupted by abuse, neglect, inconsistency, or sudden separation — affecting how that person relates to others throughout life.
Medical trauma is the psychological distress that arises from medical experiences such as procedures, hospitalization, or diagnosis. The fear and helplessness felt during hospital visits or treatment can linger for a long time.
Disaster Mental Health is a field dedicated to protecting and restoring people's psychological well-being during and after disasters such as natural catastrophes or human-caused incidents. Because anyone can suffer emotional wounds in the aftermath of a disaster, systematic psychological support is essential.
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