What is the Difference Between Big T and Little t Trauma?
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What is the difference between Big T and Little t trauma?
Big T traumas are extraordinary events, such as war, disasters, violence or abuse, that would be disturbing to anyone and go beyond our ordinary ability to cope. Little t traumas are the daily hurts, such as emotional abuse, neglect, losses or bullying, that build on each other over time.
Little t traumas are defined by your emotional reaction, not by comparison with others. They become hot buttons that trigger feelings more intense than the situation seems to call for.
Most of us intuitively understand the concept of Big T traumatic events. These are
the extraordinary events such as war, natural disasters, and being a victim of violence that lead to a wide
range of symptoms associated with intense anxiety, depression, and shock or numbness. We use the word
extraordinary not just because these events are rare, for most of us at least, but because they are beyond our
ordinary ability to cope and regulate our emotions.
Big T traumas are the ones that would be disturbing to anyone. People who have experienced these events often
suffer from acute stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Big T trauma can involve a single event or a
chronic, repetitive series of events. Still, they are the kind of events that common sense dictates would be
brutal to handle without some sort of emotional distress.
PTSD SYMPTOMS
Witnessing, experiencing, or being confronted with an extraordinary traumatic event that caused intense fear,
helplessness, or horror – or would have if these feelings weren’t masked by numbness or shock – during the event
and resulted in symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal afterward.
Re-experiencing Symptoms:
Flashbacks
Nightmares
Intrusive thoughts, feelings, or sensations
Avoidance Symptoms:
Avoiding objects, places, or activities that are reminders of the traumas
Emotional numbness
Guilt, depression, anxiety
Reduced interest in previously enjoyable activities
Inability to remember parts of the trauma
Hyperarousal and Emotional Reactivity Symptoms:
Being jumpy or easily startled
Feeling stressed, tense or on edge
Sleep problems like trouble falling or staying asleep, or difficulty allowing yourself to sleep due
fear of the nightmares.
Difficulty concentrating
Moodiness or anger outbursts
Negative Thoughts and Mood Symptoms:
Questioning your safety, ability, or worth
Blaming yourself for negative events that happen
What is Little t Trauma?
Little t traumas are the ones that are harder to recognize, as is their impact on
you. These might be traumatic for one person but not necessarily for another. They include the daily hurts
that occur across time and build on each other.
They’re the ones that others might not recognize for the traumas they are; you might not recognize why you’re
feeling stressed or emotional either. These are defined as trauma because of your emotional reaction, not how
your reaction compares to what someone else experiences.
Little t traumas are the ones that trigger you. They cause ongoing stress, anxiety,
depression, or problems in your marriage and relationships. It’s as if you have a button on your body, and you go
to a qualitatively different state of being when it gets pushed. Your body either revs up or shuts down. Your
feelings are more intense than seem to fit the situation and might be more similar to the feelings of a 5-year-old
than a 50-year-old. That’s because the hot button is attached to an old or many old hurts.
For some, the Little t hurts involve the kind of response we try to stuff down, but
the hurts re-emerge sometime later when the button is pushed again, often without awareness of the connection with
old wounds. Others may respond to the discomfort by some sort of impulsive, knee-jerk reaction and may take it out
on someone else. If you are this type of responder, those are the reactions you have come to regret, the ones you
end up sabotaging yourself with or causing problems for those you love.
