Toxic Stress & Trauma

• The Event or ongoing circumstance that caused the trauma such as a natural disaster or the loss of a loved one. 
• The Experience of trauma is individual and based on past experiences, beliefs about oneself and others as well as cultural norms. And because these things are highly individualized, not everyone experiences trauma in the same way.  
• The Effect of trauma is individual and can be physical or psychological. They can be short term or long term and there is no one way someone will be affected by trauma, so it is important not to assume.  

Understanding the 3 E’s of Trauma is important because it recognizes that not all people who are exposed to the same or similar traumatic events experience adverse outcomes, and responses are highly individualized. 

Responses to stress can be placed in three categories: positive, tolerable, and toxic. 

1. Positive stress response is a key component of development across the life span. A positive stress response can include a brief increase in heart rate and stress hormones 
2. Tolerable stress response is a response to a longer lasting or more intense difficulty that activates the body’s stress response system. Tolerable stress is manageable when a child is adequately supported by caregivers and positive relationships that help the child to adapt to physically, emotionally, and psychologically. 
3. Toxic stress response may occur when there are frequent or longer-term difficulties. can occur when a child experiences strong, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity without adequate adult caregiver support. Long term stress can negatively impact brain development by changing neural pathways as well as increasing the risk for stress related disease 

• Interpersonal Trauma: Negative events between people who often know each other, such as intimate partners, or parents and their children. Examples include: physical and sexual abuse, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse 
• Medical Trauma: Psychological and physiological responses to pain, injury, serious illness, medical procedures, and invasive or frightening medical experiences 
• Secondary Trauma: Emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another 
• Community Trauma: Families or communities can be traumatized by an event happening to one or more of its members or by witnessing a traumatic event. Some examples include: Natural disasters, forced displacement, and community-based violence. It is important to recognize that as trauma can happen to whole groups, grieving and healing is also often needed for whole groups 
• Historical and racially based trauma: Systematic oppression and chronic marginalization often rooted in white supremacy and settler colonialism. We must acknowledge historical and generational trauma that continues to impact marginalized communities affected by discrimination and oppression.