trau·ma http://img.tfd.com/m/sound.swf (trô
m
, trou-)
n. pl. trau·mas or trau·ma·ta (-m1. A serious injury or shock to the body, as from violence or an accident.2. An emotional wound or shock that creates substantial, lasting damage to the psychological development of a person, often leading to neurosis.3. An event or situation that causes great distress and disruption.
The psychiatric definition of “trauma” is “an event outside normal human experience.” Trauma generally leaves you feeling powerless, helpless, paralyzed. It tends to be sudden and overwhelming; it “owns” you. You cannot think clearly during and after a severe trauma; at the same time, you are forced to focus your consciousness in an attempt to deal. One author defines trauma as “any sudden and potentially life-threatening event.” This refers to one-time traumatic events, but most of it applies to prolonged, repeated trauma as well.
Above is the definition of trauma, in case it wasn’t clear. 
After a traumatic event, the outcome is that you feel powerless;
you’re paralyzed. I think a lot of us feel that way without experiencing a sudden, traumatic event. My theory is that what we experience is slow, long-term trauma. Trauma that we create.
After a traumatic event, the outcome is that you feel powerless;
you’re paralyzed. I think a lot of us feel that way without experiencing a sudden, traumatic event. My theory is that what we experience is slow, long-term trauma. Trauma that we create.Think about it: a woman was loading groceries into the trunk of her car, a car driving through the parking lot starts getting closer to the woman, and closer, then the driver slams on their brakes, the woman turns around just as the car careens into her legs and pins her against her car. The woman is immediately paralyzed, feels no pain, and goes into shock, not realizing what just happened. Her internal system falsely reacts as a coping device. Now, think about a man who makes a bad career choice, so he tortures himself everyday by going into a job he despises. He gets nothing out of life, so in a depressed and low state, he dates a woman who learns how to push him around and take advantage of his low self-esteem. She talks him into marriage and buying a house they can’t afford. Starting a new career is out of the question with so much debt and responsibility, so he works himself into the ground and loses all passion for life. How can someone who has gone through this downward spiral reasonably handle life? He’s seen the car slowly careening into him for years, yet couldn’t move out of the way. Before you know it, he was pinned and helpless. He experienced emotional trauma for many years and now reacts like a normal human being as a coping mechanism, although his life is paralyzing. 
Ok, so being in a bad relationship isn’t quite the same as surviving a plane crash or being pinned between two cars, but it can debilitate your life if you don’t listen for the clues and move out of the way. Letting a bad career choice rule your life can affect your well-being. Living a life where negativity slowly eats away at you will leave you pinned and lead to neurosis. We create our own traumas. I, admittedly, have felt “owned” and not in control of my own life. I think we all do. It’s those of us who recognize it and squeeze out from between the two cars to get help that survive.
