Horbunova V. V. Support for persons exposed to trauma: the role of social environment.
(2016) Science and education, 5, 40-45. Odessa.
Victoriia Horbunova,
Doctor of Psychology, Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology,
Ukrainian Catholic University,
17, Ilariona Sventsitskoho Str., Lviv, Ukraine
SUPPORT FOR PERSONS EXPOSED TO TRAUMA: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
SUMMARY:
The article deals with the issue of recovery and personal growth of people exposed to trauma events and who have post-traumatic disorders. This issue is considered to be relevant because there is the increase of traumatic events in current war situation in Ukraine. In addition, Ukrainians, especially those who live in war territory, have no opportunity to get professional assistance. In this situation, the main role in supporting the natural mental recovery processes belongs to people from the nearest social environment. A traumatic event causes a number of changes in the nervous system functioning, which can be manifested in nightmares, negative self-attitude, depression, aggression, or on the contrary, indifference. One should remember that none of these manifestations means abnormality or deviation. All of them are a normal psychological reaction to traumatic events. One of the significant factors of recovery after traumatic events is the support of relatives and close friends, their calm and encouraging attitude. A person who has experienced trauma becomes sensitive to different triggers (reminders about the event). Everything associated with a traumatic event can cause tension, anxiety, aggression, etc. People, their actions, words or phrases, concrete situations or just things, sounds, scents can act like triggers. Thus, the following peculiarities of behaviour are the signals meaning that one should consult a psychologist: if a person avoids communication and prefers to spend all the time in his/her “safe place (at home)”; if he/she refuses to think about the traumatic event, denies the facts which have taken place in his/her life in reality; loses his/her interests and hobbies, becomes indifferent to everything; manifests no interest in his/her relatives’ or friends’ life; misuses alcohol or drugs, etc. In such situations, close people should understand the symptoms and neurophysiological mechanisms of posttraumatic reactions. They should master the skills of socio-psychological support, which include psychological recovery, creating emotionally calm conditions for safe memories, refocusing on a certain kind of activity (finding new hobby, etc.).
KEYWORDS:
posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic events, intrusions, avoidance, posttraumatic growth, nearest social environment.
FULL TEXT:
REFERENCES:
1. Avenevoli S, Stolar M, Li J, Dierker L, Ries Merikangas, K. (2001). Comorbidity of depression in children and adolescents: models and evidence from a prospective high-risk family study. Biol Psychiatry, 49(12), 1071-81 [in English].
2. Briere, John, Catherine Scott (2015). Principles of trauma therapy : a guide to symptoms, evaluation, and treatment. University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. 2 nd ed. DSM-5 update. Los Angeles: Sage [in English].
3. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (2013). 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association [in English].
4. Hooberman, J. B., Rosenfeld, B., Rasmussen, A., & Keller, A. S. (2010). Resilience in trauma-exposed refugees: The moderating effect of coping style on resilience variables. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 557-563 [in English].
5. Leskin, G. A., & Sheikh, J. I. (2002). Lifetime trauma history and panic disorder: Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 599-603 [in English].
6. McCutcheon, V. V., Sartor, C. E., Pommer, N. E., Bucholz, K. K., Nelson, E. C., Madden, P. A. F., & Heath, A. C. (2010). Age at trauma exposure and PTSD risk in young adult women. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23, 811-814 [in English].
7. McFarlane, A. C., Barton, C. A., Yehuda, R., & Wittert, G. (2011). Cortisol response to acute trauma and risk of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychoneuro endocrinology, 36, 720-727 [in English].
8. McLaughlin, K. A., Fairbank, J. A., Gruber, M. J., Jones, R. T., Lakoma, M. D., Pfefferbaum, B., Kessler, R. C. (2009). Serious emotional disturbance among youth exposed to Hurricane Katrina 2 years postdisaster. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48, 1069-1078 [in English].
9. Raison, C. L., & Miller, A. H. (2003). When not enough is too much: The role of insufficient glucocorticoid signaling in the pathophysiology of stressrelated disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 1554-1565 [in English].
10. Sherin, J. E., & Nemerоff, C. B. (2011). Posttraumatic stress disorder: The neurobiological impact of psychological trauma. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 13, 263-278 [in English].
11. Yuan, C., Wang, Z., Inslicht, S. S., McCaslin, S. E., Metzler, T. J., Henn-Haase, C., Marmar, C. R. (2011). Protective factors for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in a prospective study of police officers. Psychiatry Research, 188, 45-50 [in English].