Trauma

A deep psychological injury or shock resulting from an extremely stressful, terrifying, or jarring event that exceeds the individual’s capacity to cope emotionally. May stem from a one off incident (e.g. accident or assault) or repeated stress (e.g. domestic violence). Leads to long term impacts on thoughts, feelings, behaviour and relationships.

Source: Defined in DSM 5 under Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders (APA, 2013) and in ICD 11 (WHO, 2017). Introduced as a formal clinical concept in the 1980s. Additional references: Briere & Scott, Principles of Trauma Therapy (2015); Herman, Trauma and Recovery (1992)