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Are some kinds of trauma worse than others?

22 Answers
Last Updated: 02/26/2018 at 10:17am
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Melissa Strauss, LPC

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I am client focused and believe everyone has a strength. I feel confident in seeing clients with generalized and social anxiety, depression and relational goals.

Top Rated Answers
laramsilva
October 5th, 2014 3:32pm
Everyone has his/hers own traumas... everyone has problems. some problems we think they are big, and others small. but, who are we to compare problems? we can't equate two different traumas. only the person who has the trauma knows if it is worse ou «better» than other trauma that he/she have had.
cjg242
September 15th, 2014 2:25pm
I feel that different traumas bring different negative effects and can be worse compared to others. For example, in a personal experience, the passing of 2 relatives within 4 months of each other. That, in itself, is a traumatic situation. However, there were different levels within itself. The first passing was an unexpected loss of my mother. Completely off guard and one of the worst things to experience. Shortly after, my grandfather passed. He was a large part of my life so it too was traumatic. However, my mother's passing was certainly more substantial. Not only was she my mother but it was unexpected. This is only one example, however, I feel if it can happen in this situation there must be others it can occur. So yes, in my eyes you can have different traumatic experience which hold different effects on one person.
Gilles
September 18th, 2014 8:02pm
No. A trauma is a trauma. It is the mind having been absolutely overwhelmed by the traumatic event, whatever event it was. There may be differences in the way of experiencing the after effect of trauma between repeated traumas during a period of time and a one time trauma though.
RYBH
October 26th, 2014 11:23pm
All trauma is not good. There are somethings that are maybe worth stressing more than others, but all trauma is bad, not just one kind.
Anonymous
October 28th, 2014 3:37am
It all depends on the person. What I may find traumatic might not be traumatic for another person. We should never judge another person for being traumatized over something, all we can do is be loving and supportive and help them overcome that negative experience.
nightowl23
November 5th, 2014 8:57am
I don't believe you should classify any trauma as 'worse' or 'not as bad' as another as it is down to an individual's perception of trauma as to how it affects them. Two people experiencing an identical trauma may have very different reactions to it, and different ways of dealing with it. These things play a part in how much it ends up traumatising them. I think the safest way to operate is to treat someone experiencing any sort of trauma, whether it be a small or large one in your eyes, with respect and compassion.
Anonymous
February 26th, 2018 10:17am
No trauma should be undermined. IIf you have trauma then you should be treated just the same as someone else that has a different trauma.
Danonda17
December 26th, 2016 12:11am
Trauma is trauma but yes there are some that are worse than others, this does not make the trauma that someone is personally suffering any less worse though. Please keep in mind that everyone is an individual and what hurts them can hurt someone else differently
Anonymous
August 17th, 2015 3:46am
Yes, some traumas are worse than others. Because some people have been hurt deeper so it takes longer for them to heal.
Anonymous
August 4th, 2015 1:34pm
Trauma in any form is often an impactful thing for people. The severity of it, however, is subjective to each person. How bad a trauma is to one person, may not seem that bad to others. The important thing to remember is that trauma affects us all differently and we perceive it differently, which doesn't mean it is any worse or less worse than someone else's. We have to try and look at the trauma through the victim's eyes and understand that while it may not seem as bad to us, it might be about as bad as it can get for the victim.
1997Turtle
May 2nd, 2015 8:48am
percieved by people surrounding us. yes. but to the person, no. if it affects them, it affects them. it must all be bad if it is causing trauma.
Anonymous
April 24th, 2015 9:16pm
I think some trauma affects some people differently. It all depends on their predispositions because of genetics and their lives and even illnesses (mentally or physical) and support systems. So it's not necessarily all worse, but it all depends on the person.
Anonymous
November 14th, 2014 4:03am
No types of trauma are good in any way-that's why they are called "trauma" these incidences/experiences traumatized someone. Some people react differently to things other people were left completely debilitated by. Some people handle things differently. Because one person isn't as effected by one thing as another makes the occurrence no better or worse. Kind of like statistics. The odds of someone you meet being a serial killer are very slim. Would you think twice about a stranger advancing towards you with a knife though? Yes! Because anyone could fall into the category of people that fall victim to a serial killer. Anyone could be traumatized by that experience, anyone can brush it off and come back swinging right away.
Anonymous
November 13th, 2014 5:55pm
Trauma depends upon our capability to handle and situations .So yes it can get support without support and care
ChelseasEvilGrin
November 8th, 2014 6:29pm
Trauma is a different expierence for every person. What could be considered terrible for one person someone else could consider just a papercut.
Helper6754
November 6th, 2014 12:47am
I personally don't think so I think that they all have about the same impact but varies on the person rather than what happened.
Lovenia
September 11th, 2014 2:44am
Only in the eyes of the beholder. To someone who has lived a little trauma, it can seem just as bad as someone who who has lived a thousand life changing terrors. If something hurts you, it hurts, weather someone has lived something 'worse' or not.
Anonymous
November 1st, 2014 2:35pm
Yeah because if there is one kind of trauma people can be traumatized for their whole life. People can be traumatized and think that their life can be over.
Jawhitby
October 25th, 2014 5:13pm
Of course some traumas are worse than others, losing a parent or loved one is a lot worse than losing your pet gerbil however that doesn't mean that it hurts that individual any less, everyone hurts and no matter what the reason is I'm glad that there are websites like this to help you overcome that pain inside
KatieTrancy
October 24th, 2014 3:32am
Everyone feels everything in their own ways no one can feel exactly how you do because you are your own person
Dane
October 7th, 2014 1:24pm
Different kinds of trauma affect different kinds of people in varying degrees of severity. What may be a simple stressful situation to one individual may be traumatic to another. It is always important to remember that everyone's personal experience is disparate from those of others, and to treat all trauma cases equally. We all have objective perspectives of our personal traumatic events or those of others, but it is always important to keep in mind that no two people will handle the same type of trauma the same way. Keeping an objective perspective on individuals suffering from trauma is the best way to handle any and all trauma cases.
Anonymous
September 14th, 2014 12:21am
I think how trauma effects a person is completely subjective - which is to say some situations affect people differently than others. Who is to say whats worse than the person who has experienced it?