Difficult experience and Trauma
Not every unpleasant or even difficult experience is traumatic in the professional sense of the word. A traumatic event is when a person experiences a combination of:
| 1. | A sense of immediate threat to the physical and/or emotional well-being of himself or another. |
| 2. | Flooded by emotions of the helplessness or fear. |
In addition, the influence of the traumatic event is intensified if we were not prepared for it. In most cases, a traumatic event occurs suddenly and unexpectedly.
According to this definition, the traumatic experience does not necessarily have to happen to me.
Correct. If we are observers of the difficult event or even just hear about it – we can still be flooded by feelings of fear and helplessness. This kind of experience can be traumatic for us.
If so, anyone in this country could experience trauma.
Any person, anywhere might encounter or hear about a traumatic event. In Israel, because of the Israeli-Arab conflict, we are more exposed to traumatic events caused by situations of terrorism and war. In other words, in Israel we are more exposed to trauma with a national background.