Life Traumas and Adversities

Question 1

D: trauma

Answer 1

A distressing reaction resulting from adverse life experiences that exceeds the person’s ability to cope in the short and long term

Question 2

What are Big T traumas?

Answer 2

major distressing life events, experiences of interpersonal violence, such as rape or domestic violence.

Question 3

What are Small T traumas?

Answer 3

More common events that still have the potential to negatively impact individuals’ mental health and wellbeing

Question 4

What does a Type 1 trauma involve?

Answer 4

It involves witnessing or experiencing a single event such as a serious accident or rape.

Question 5

What does a Type 2 trauma involve?

Answer 5

It results from repeated exposure to extreme external events, such as ongoing sexual abuse

Question 6

Which life circumstances would result in complex childhood and developmental traumas?

Answer 6

children’s exposure to multiple traumatic events

Question 7

Which circumstances could cause social trauma?

Answer 7

Inequality, marginalisation, and poverty

Question 8

What is historical trauma?

Answer 8

Violence committed against entire groups, including slavery, genocide, eg the Holocaust

Question 9

Institutionalised children from Romanian orphanages had delays in which areas?

Answer 9

cognitive function
motor development
language
deficits in socio-emotional behaviours
experienced more psychiatric disorders
changes in the patterns of electrical activity in their brains

Question 10

At what age were children available to make a full recovery in brain activity if they were removed from the Romanian orphanages?

Answer 10

2

Question 11

Children who suffer neglect (particularly sensory-deprivation neglect) often show what deficits in the brain?

Answer 11

frontal-occipital circumference deficit (smaller brain than usual)

Question 12

What does ACE stand for?

Answer 12

adverse childhood experience

Question 13

What are the 10 ACEs?

Answer 13

• physical abuse
• sexual abuse
• psychological abuse
• physical neglect
• psychological neglect
• witnessing domestic abuse
• having a close family member who misused drugs or alcohol
• having a close family member with mental health problems
• having a close family member who served time in prison
• parental separation or divorce on account of relationship breakdown.

Question 14

How common are potentially traumatic childhood experiences in the UK?

Answer 14

Nearly half (47%) of respondents reported at least 1 adverse childhood life experience

Approximately 1 in 10 people (9%) reported four or more adverse childhood life experience