Common Traumatic Experiences After Traumatic Events

Feeling anger: Some people feel angry about the event or about the things that happened afterward. Other people just feel angry all the time, at everything and everybody. Both responses are normal and will get better as people begin to digest what happened to them.

Feeling shame: Sometimes people are ashamed about what happened to them. Sometimes, stress can make people feel bad about themselves, like they’re a bad person or that no one likes them. This makes it harder to be friendly and to have fun with others. Keeping feelings a secret makes it more difficult for shame to go away. Having control over whether and to what extent they talk about a traumatic event and the emotions that it stirs up can help students feel better. Educators can prepare to thoughtfully receive these narratives, such as by acknowledging and accepting any emotions the student displays in sharing, and by practicing the healing gestures outlined above.

Feeling guilt: People can feel guilty about what happened or about something they did or did not do. Sometimes they blame themselves for things they couldn’t control. They may also feel guilty for upsetting others. Guilty feelings can make it hard to talk about what happened.

Feeling sadness, grief, or loss: Sometimes stressful or traumatic events include losing someone close or something important. This can make people feel sad and down.

Feeling tension and having nightmares or trouble sleeping: After something scary or upsetting, it takes a while to figure out exactly what happened and what it means. After severe stress or traumatic events, people tend to keep thinking about what happened in order to digest it. This can take a long time. Nightmares are one way of digesting what happened.

Feeling afraid for seemingly no reason: This occurs because people remember what happened or because they are thinking about what happened. Other times it occurs because their bodies are so tense they start feeling scared.

Anxiety and thinking about it all the time: This is another way to digest what happened. Just like having nightmares, thinking about the traumatic event all the time is a problem because it makes people feel upset.

Avoidance and wanting to not think or talk about it: It is upsetting to think about a past stressor, and doing so can lead to diverse emotions. Avoidance makes things easier, but only for a little while. Avoiding situations that remind people of what happened can help them feel better right then. But avoidance may keep them from doing normal things that are an important part of life. It’s important to digest what happened sooner or later.

Vigilance and being on guard; feeling like something bad is about to happen: After something bad happens, it makes sense to be prepared for another bad thing. But people can spend so much time waiting for the next bad thing to happen that they don’t have time or energy for other things in their lives. Also, it is scary to think something bad is going to happen.

Not being able to remember parts of what happened: Stressful events can be so awful that people’s memories don’t function as usual. Sometimes it gets easier to remember later on, and sometimes it gets harder. This can be frustrating, but it is normal.

Having trouble concentrating: With the nervousness people tend to feel and the time spent thinking about what happened, it can be hard to concentrate on schoolwork or even on what friends or family say.

Jumping when there is a loud noise: This is one way that people’s bodies signal they are prepared for action in case something else happens. As people begin to feel calmer, this goes away.

Having physical health problems and complaints: Stress affects the body as well. People sometimes get sick more often or notice pain and discomfort more often when they have been under stress. 


Feeling out of control:If a lot of these common reactions are problems for people, they can start to feel out of control or even “crazy.” Don’t worry, though; these are all normal reactions, and there are ways to feel better. 


This list should be used for awareness and understanding. Screening students for traumatic effects and labeling or diagnosing for related conditions or illnesses are the responsibilities of clinicians and therefore are not covered in this text.

This sidebar was adapted from L. Jaycox, A. Langley, and K. Dean, Support for Students Exposed to Trauma: The SSET Program (RAND Corp., 2009).