Trauma Basics

If you or someone you know has been through a trauma, these fact sheets will give you the basics on what it is and what you can do about it.

What Happens After a Trauma?

Global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, impact people in different ways. This fact sheet reviews how to distinguish between stressful and traumatic events, identify factors that may influence our experience of these events, and understand the unique impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many people have symptoms similar to posttraumatic stress disorder in the weeks after a trauma. For most of those people, those symptoms will then go away on their own.

People are affected by trauma in different ways. This fact sheet will help you learn about things like what trauma is, common reactions to it, problems that can result, and things that can help.

Adult Prevention and Early Treatment for PTSD: Guidelines Summary

In the field of prevention and early intervention for PTSD, who receives an intervention and when is just as important as the intervention itself. The ISTSS Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Prevention and Treatment Guidelines provide insight into who should receive early preventative interventions and early treatment and when they should be administered.