It is impossible to go through a traumatic experience without being traumatized!

Some traumatic events are easy to spot.  War, natural disasters, being the victim of violence, or witnessing the unexpected death of someone are easily identified as traumatic events.  It is relatively easy to acknowledge that these types of trauma have impacted us, our experiences, and our reactions.

Some traumatic events are harder to spot.  These are events that may be traumatic for you but may not be traumatic for someone else.  These traumas may exist in or around your life for extended periods of time while their impact on you builds slowly.  Yu may have ignored or minimized these traumas saying "Everyone has to deal with that kind of stuff", "That's what everyone's childhood was like", "It's not really so bad", or "Other people had it worse."  However, these traumas significantly impact you - whether you acknowledge them or not!  It is not how triggering the event would have been for someone else that makes it trauma; it's how triggering it was and is for you that makes it trauma.

Some traumatic events that are often overlooked are emotional abuse, neglect, losses, learning problems, stress at work or school, lack of empathy from others, minor accidents, failure of caretakers to provide appropriate information, failure of caretakers to set appropriate boundaries, and lack of nurturance.

When your trauma wounds are triggered, your experience shifts.  Situations or issues that may be no big deal push you over the edge.  Your body gets energized or shuts down.  Your feelings may be more intense than expected for the situation.  You may feel more like a kid or teenager than an adult.  You are having a trauma reaction.  Trauma reactions affect how you react to a situation as well as how others react to you.  Typically, when we are in a trauma reaction, situations do not resolve very well.