The phrase “trauma-informed care” has been floating around common parlance over the last several years, but what does this buzz-word really mean? The short answer is that the medical community realizes that causes of mental illness may occur years prior to a mental health diagnosis, or even prior to any noticeable symptoms.
Imagine walking into a doctor’s office complaining of a broken arm. Upon reviewing the X-ray, the doctor would likely be shocked and appalled to discover that the break in question occurred 30 years earlier when you fell out of a tree. Physical illnesses often have a very immediate nature to them. But as mental health understanding progresses, it has become clearer over the years that a childhood trauma has the potential to stay latent in our minds for years or even decades before being triggered, thereby causing visible symptoms to appear. A broken arm won’t wait for years, but because of the nature of mental illness, childhood abuse and neglect can.
Trauma-informed care therefore seeks to understand a presenting mental illness through the lens of possible un-addressed trauma from an earlier period in our lives. Symptoms of depression that are disproportionate to their trigger are more easily understood if we recognize that they stem from an event in our childhood that was left unresolved. Feelings of anxiety that manifest only while in large crowds or anytime we get into a vehicle make more sense – and are more effectively treated – if we can grasp their origins in a situation from our youth which we never properly placed into context. Considering that an estimated 70% of adults in Wichita have experienced some kind of trauma in their lives, it’s no wonder that trauma-informed care is being increasingly utilized.
