You probably think of these when you hear the word "trauma"-a plane crash, active military combat, a sexual assault, or witnessing others' trauma. They define traumatic experiences in two categories-big "T" trauma and little "t" trauma.ĭifference Between Big "T" Trauma and Little "t" Traumaīig "T" trauma (sometimes called large "T"), which can often lead to an official PTSD diagnosis, consists of catastrophic, life-threatening, and intensely distressing events. "Some people were dealing with stressors that caused the same symptoms," Moutier says-even if the stressors weren't as life-threatening as, say, a natural disaster, deadly illness, or an abusive relationship.Ĭlinicians and mental health professionals realized the importance of recognizing and classifying these "smaller" distressing experiences as legitimate forms of trauma in their own right. "The concept came from classic constructs like PTSD - we were trained only to think about experiences that were life-threatening," explains Christine Yu Moutier, MD, and chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.īut as clinicians continued to practice, they realized that other events (perhaps not traditionally defined as "trauma") were causing the same emotional and physical impact. When we think of trauma, we often think of acute, catastrophic events: the loss of a loved one, a natural disaster, a terrible accident.
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