Psychological trauma

Psychological trauma is the lasting emotional and mental injury that follows a severely distressing event, such as violence, sexual assault, childhood abuse, the death of a loved one, a natural disaster, or long-term exposure to danger or extreme poverty. The response can include intense fear, helplessness, horror, intrusive memories, and disrupted emotional regulation, and it draws on neurology, psychiatry, psychology, and social work because it touches both brain function and behavior. Nineteenth century clinicians such as Jean-Martin Charcot studied related states under the name traumatic hysteria, work that influenced Sigmund Freud's early theories of the mind. Modern treatment ranges from psychotherapy to medications including antidepressants and anticonvulsants, reflecting how differently trauma can present from one person to the next.