Introduction
Severe mental illnesses are psychological disorders that negatively impact people’s health and may cause trauma and mental harm. Presently, these diseases are widely spread and lead to negative consequences. Furthermore, severe mental illnesses are associated with traumatic events that harm a person’s mental well-being and might lead to mental trauma. Still, severe psychological disorders are followed by harmful effects on organisms and might cause post-traumatic stress disorder, complicating mental health conditions.
Relationships between Severe Mental Illnesses and Trauma
First of all, severe mental illnesses cause psychological harm to the person, might enhance the impact of available trauma, and even cause a new one. This type of disorder leads to different diseases, such as depression, panic disorder, and anxiety, which bring harm and cause traumatic effects to people (Sweeney et al., 2018). Moreover, trauma is directly connected with mental illnesses and might be defined as one of their symptoms.
For instance, severe mental diseases are followed by a wide range of symptoms, including sad feelings, suicidal thoughts, and trouble with sleep, which negatively affect psychological well-being and lead to mental trauma. Sometimes, a person’s response to extreme distress might cause trauma, especially when such a response is made to something similar to the past one (Sweeney et al., 2018). In addition, mental disorders may cause social trauma due to the inability of an ill person to interact with society normally and respond appropriately to external stimuli. Therefore, severe mental illnesses have a direct connection with trauma by enhancing its effect on mental health conditions and leading to the occurrence of new ones.
Impact of Traumatic Events on the Occurrence of Mental Diseases and Trauma
Secondly, during traumatic events, a person is focused on survival and self-protection, leading to the occurrence of mental illnesses and trauma related to stressful events. Trauma cannot occur independently; a trigger, such as a stressful or life-threatening experience, should be present. During traumatic events, a person’s organism is focused on self-protection; only after the ending of the situation a mental response to the event is formed (Kolk, 2022).
As a result, a mental disease might arise, and without necessary treatment, these illnesses transform into severe ones, which include the appearance of other trauma. Furthermore, traumas usually arise due to constant stress, which is formed by experiencing the negative consequences of severe mental disorders. In addition, symptoms of mental disorders such as depression, self-blame, outbursts of anger, and distrust create a positive environment for traumas such as post-traumatic stress disorder (Kolk, 2022). Hence, severe mental health diseases are caused by traumatic events, and the main symptoms of illnesses lead to the arising of trauma, such as PTSD.
Connections between SMI and PTSD
Thirdly, PTSD is caused by stressful life events, which make a person more vulnerable, and the presence of severe mental illnesses increases the risk of PTSD. Firstly, this disorder is followed by the following symptoms: self-destructive behaviors, depressive mood, feelings of shame, and constant anger. People suffering from severe mental illnesses are vulnerable to PTSD because of already available mental trauma (Sin et al., 2017).
Furthermore, the presence of these disorders makes people weaker to other harmful external stimuli, which might cause PTSD. According to the article (Sin et al., 2017), approximately a third of people experiencing severe mental illnesses have faced this mental disorder. Sometimes, this disease was caused by available symptoms of severe mental illnesses. In addition, some of the symptoms of PTSD are similar to other dangerous psychological diseases, which makes this trauma harder to recognize and treat. Thus, PTSD might be seen as the consequence of severe mental illnesses and is faced by many people with psychological disorders due to their vulnerability.
Effects of PTSD on People with SMI
Lastly, PTSD reveals or causes other mental traumas, harms mental health, and complicates severe mental illnesses. Firstly, people, who suffer from severe depression, cannot cope with self-blame and feelings of shame due to PTSD (Kolk, 2022). This situation causes mental trauma and affects people’s ability to accept their feelings. Secondly, due to PTSD, people may experience traumatic events repeatedly, resulting in a complicated treatment process. Lastly, this trauma makes a person hide from the environment and stimuli that might remind them of the traumatic event (Kolk, 2022). As a result, a person might face social trauma, such as disability, to negotiate good relationships with others.
Conclusion
All in all, severe mental illnesses seriously threaten people’s well-being. These disorders may cause different psychological traumas, such as PTSD, which is the most widespread. In addition, people with severe mental illnesses are more likely to get PTSD due to their vulnerability and mental instability. Thus, trauma associated with severe psychological disorders, such as PTSD, is harmful and leads to negative mental health consequences, and this trauma is hard to recognize in other illnesses backgrounds.
References
Kolk B. (2022). Posttraumatic stress disorder and the nature of trauma. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 2(1), 7-22. Web.
Sin J, Spain D, Furuta M, Murrells T, & Norman I. (2017). Psychological interventions for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in people with severe mental illness. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Web.
Sweeney A., Filson B., Kennedy A., Collinson L., & Gillard S. (2018). A paradigm shift: Relationships in trauma-informed mental health services. BJPsych Advances. Web.