Additive Trauma

Literature on Additive Trauma

To date, there has been scant research on the cumulative effects of additive trauma. What little that is available on the subject indicates that repeated trauma may have additive effects. For example, studies have shown that exposure to atrocities was significantly related to the severity of one's symptoms, that the exposure to brutal human death and suffering has more of an impact on posttraumatic stress [Page 10]disorder (PTSD) severity than combat-related threat to life alone, and that repeated combat tours by members of the armed services may increase the risk of PTSD and other disorders. Though hardly exhaustive in addressing the effects of additive trauma, the few available studies lay the foundation on this topic.

Historically, the focus of research has been on identifying and addressing the effects of different types of trauma as well as the efficacy of treatment modalities. A quick search for the term trauma will yield a variety of topics on types of trauma, individual, group, and societal impacts of a traumatic experience, as well as a long list of organizations involved in the field. What is not listed is any significant discussion of the lasting compounding effects of traumatic experiences on individuals or groups. As such, additive trauma may represent a unique category of trauma that plays a role in treatment modality as well as treatment effects.

It is common that therapeutic interventions fail to achieve full efficacy with clients who are resistant to treatment. There has been evidence-based work to correlate this psychological resistance (or treatment failure) with having a history of traumatic experiences. Although many therapeutic modalities exist to address traumatic memories, none are yet consistently capable of a broad and comprehensive approach to the treatment of multiple psychological insults. When facing treatment resistance with a client while using an evidence-based intervention, the provider would be wise to look further into the client's history to identify additional traumatic experiences that now serve to limit the individual's progress beyond what was presented at the onset of therapy.

Societal Trends

The societal trends affecting the individual client often provide significant insight into the effects of additive trauma. Though the list of significant trends could be exhaustive, four trends in particular have molded the most recent generation(s) of youth.