One of the worst government policies was the removal of Aboriginal children of mixed descent to make them "white" citizens. Far from "colonising" Australia, the British fought many wars across Australia with Aboriginal people defending their ancient lands and protecting their families, communities and sacred sites. Many found themselves accused of neglect or distributing pornography. Almost overnight the military invaded Aboriginal communities and restricted what people could do. Now that you know some basic types of trauma, here are some events that happened in the past which are likely to have caused one or more of these to Aboriginal people: Causes of trauma in the Aboriginal context You can be traumatised by a single occurrence of such an event, multiple or repeated events. With institutional trauma, the context of these actions or inaction is relevant. Also known as institutional betrayal, this type of trauma occurs when an institution (often a government agency) worsens someone's traumatic experience with its actions or inaction. The term is based on studies of traumas of the colonisation, relocation, and assimilation of the American First Peoples who share many parallels with Australia's First Peoples. Its characteristics are widespread effects, collective suffering, and malicious intent. When traumatic experiences or events are shared by a group of people within a society, or even by an entire community, ethnic, or national group, we speak of historical trauma. These persons are usually family members, but can also be carers or health professionals. This is also called vicarious trauma and relates to a person who develops trauma symptoms from close contact with someone who has experienced a traumatic event. Traumatic grief is also likely if too many deaths happen over a short time period. After a death you might have ongoing difficulties that interfere with everyday life and make it difficult to recall positive memories of your loved ones. If someone uses you to get sexual stimulation or gratification, or rapes you, they are sexually abusing you. Many displaced people, especially children, experience trauma related to war or persecution that can affect their mental and physical health long after the events have occurred. This type of abuse happens when someone manipulates or threatens you but does not physically harm you. If someone causes you a physical injury it is called physical abuse. This is also referred to as Intimate Partner Violence and happens when your current or past partner purposely causes you, or threatens you with, harm. This kind of trauma generally refers to events that happen when you are less than seven years old. Natural disasters include hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis, and floods, as well as extreme weather events such as blizzards, droughts, extreme heat, and wind storms. This category is used for cases where you survived multiple traumatic events (often invasive and from another person) and are dealing with the long-term (and often wide-ranging) effects of these events.
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If members of your community who are not intimately related to you are violent towards you in public, it is called community violence. Often, these people consider you to be less powerful. When other people are bullying you, their actions are deliberate and unsolicited and intended to cause social, emotional, physical or psychological harm. Types of traumaĮxperts distinguish several types of trauma. Any event you find physically or emotionally threatening or harmful can cause trauma, as can physical harm or injury, either directly or indirectly.Įvents typically involve the loss of control, betrayal, abuse of power, helplessness, pain, confusion and loss. Our physiology does not differentiate between social and physical pain. Many other events can affect a person profoundly and alter their experiences. To better understand Aboriginal trauma we need to look at what causes trauma first.Ī traumatic event does not need to be extreme as war, a natural disaster or personal assault. Therefore, trauma is defined more by its response than its trigger. Who is affected by trauma varies a lot and there are no objective criteria to evaluate which events cause trauma. The event overwhelms an individual's ability to cope. Dictionaries define trauma as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience and an emotional response to a terrible event or natural disaster.