Week 3 - Attachment, Trauma, and PTSD Flashcards
What is Attachment?
A deep and enduring emotional bond that connects people together
When does attachment begin and what does it shape?
Begins in infancy between a child and its caregiver and iyt shapes an individual’s ability to form emotional connections throughout life
What are four primary attachment styles
- Secure Attachment
-Comfortable with intimacy and independence - Anxious
-Seeks closeness and is anxious about abandonment - Disorganized
- No clear strategy, usually a mix of avoidant and anxious - Avoidant
-Values independence and avoids closeness
What is Trauma
emotional, psychological, and sometimes physical responses to distressing events or experiences that overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope
How can the experience of trauma be categorzied?
The 3 E’s:
1. Event
2. Experience
3. Effects
What is ACE and what does it stand for?
difficult or harmful events that happen during childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or growing up in a household with violence, substance abuse, or mental illness and Adverse Childhood Experiences
what are the 3 main categorizes that divide the ten types of adversity in childhood?
- Abuse
- Neglect
- Household Dysfunction
How to children react trauma?
- Regression: returning to behaviours like bed-wetting
- Language Disruption: forgetting how or being temporarily unable to talk
- Reenactment: acting out the traumatic event during playtime as a way to process
- Separation Anxiety: Become unusually clingy with a parent or caregiver, a stoned need for security
How do teens react to trauma?
- Withdrawal: isolating from friends and family and becoming emotionally distant
- Risk-Taking Behaviours: engaging in reckless activities like drugs or driving dangerously
- Mood Swings: sudden and intense emotional changes––irritability to anger to anxiety or depression
- Difficulty Concentrating: struggling with school or feeling overwhelmed by daily tasks due to intrusive thoughts or flashbacks
- Somatic Complaints: headaches, stomach aches, or chronic fatigue without a clear medical cause
What can early traumatic events influence:
Early traumatic events can disrupt the development of secure attachment
what is the window of tolerance?
refers to the optimal zone of arousal where an individual can function effectively
What are the 3 stages of the window of tolerance?
- Inside the Window of Tolerance
- Nervous system is regulated and you can manage emotions well - Hyperarousal (above the window)
- abnormal state of heightened responsiveness
-feelings of anxiety, anger, - Hypoarousal (below the window)
-decreased responsiveness
Feeling emotionally numb
What does dysregulated mean?
When you’re outside the window of tolerance (either too high or too low).
What is PTSD?
Developed after experiencing a shocking, scary, or dangerous event
When does it stop being fear and may be PTSD?
it is normal to feel afraid during and after a scary situation, those who continue to experience symptoms may be diagnosed with PTSD
