Coping with Trauma

Angela RoseDiana K. Riser

Everyone reacts differently to trauma

Main Issues

Victim Blaming Society Vastly Under-Reported Re-traumatized by

institutions Lack of support

After a Sexual Assault…• Withdrawn or depressed• Laughing• Crying• May Not be a Linear Story:

• May Focus on Small Details

• Cognitively Demanding • Time consuming and taxing

Parts of the Brain effected by Traumatic Events

HPA axis: Hypothalamus Pituitary gland Adrenal gland

Neurobiology of Trauma• The brain will release different

types of hormones in response to a sexual assault.

• Catecholamine: fight or flight• Cortisol: providing energy• Opioids: pain preventative• Oxytocin: good feelings

Rebecca Campbell, PhD. Professor of Psychology

Michigan State University

Tonic Immobility• Incapability of physically and vocally responding • Insensitivity to intense pain• Why?

• Typically occurring during overwhelming fear and physical restraint.

• May occur when one feels there is no winning the fight.

• If one is confronted with sharp weapons (to keep from escalating injury)

• Physiological response (women & men response)… body response is not consent

Hippocampus and corpus collosom

• According to a study conducted by Martin H. Teicher, M.D., Ph.D., by looking at brain images of subjects that had been sexually abused as children there were major differences/ abnormalities to the left hemisphere of the hippocampus and the corpus callosum compared to subjects who had not been sexually abused as children.• The hippocampus and corpus callosum were

dramatically smaller in size when compared to those brain who had not been abused.

Secondary Victimization

• 90 percent of victims encounter at least one secondary victimization in their interactions with law enforcement during that first reporting process.

False Reports• False report rate for SV? 2%• Guilt and shame can lead to missing or

embellished facts• Frustrating reality of false allegations -

though not the norm• Innocent until proven guilty….

Justice for Patty

-Legally blind woman named Patty -Raped by an armed intruder-Disbelieved by police and pressured to recant, then charged with a crime for insisting she was raped-After an intense battle, DNA corroborated her story

Stockholm Syndrome

• Complex reaction to a frightening situation

• Hostages identify and sympathize with their captors

• Positive feelings about captor• Negative feelings about police 

Emotional Aftermath• Eating Disorders• Self-Mutilation• Depression• Suicidal thoughts and tendencies• Alcohol and drug abuse• Hyper and Hypo Sexualization• PTSD• Trust Issues – Multiple Victimizations

Silence and Shame

Who did you first tell?

• Studies show that if the first person a survivor tells reacts well, it can greatly impacts the healing process!

• Personally and Professionally• How did the first person you told

react? How did it impact you?

Promoting Resilience• Tell survivor stories• Focus on survivor not perpetrator• The cycle of violence is not inevitable• Promote protective factors• Reduce risk factors• Resilience made visible