This is an educational approach to dealing with the issue of Psychological Trauma Exposure.  Such exposure can result in an Acute Stress Reaction or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  As an educational approach you, the student, learn how to protect yourself from future and to deal with past trauma exposure.

Terms

Psychological Trauma Exposure – any event that you experience that is outside of your normal routine that contains elements that you find horrible, threatening, or frightening and believe are beyond your control to change.  Examples are, seeing or being in a car accident, fire, robbery, murder, tornado, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack, military action.

Acute Stress Reaction – a physical and/or emotional reaction to experiencing a traumatic event that happens within 4 weeks after exposure and last no more than 2 days to 4 weeks.  This reaction is characterized by repetitive unwanted thoughts of the event, nightmares, a feeling of re-experiencing the event, and avoiding reminders of the event.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – a severe reaction to trauma exposure that lasts more than one month.  This disorder is characterized by reoccurring and involuntary intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, persistent avoidance of anything that is related to the event, aggressive and/or self-destructive behaviors, negative emotional affect, depression, anxiety, distrusting, and isolating from others