Secondary Traumatic Stress

Abstract

Traumatic events do not only affect the person who was directly exposed to the incident, but they might also lead to some reactions on people with whom they interact. It is argued that, reactions given to a traumatic event by being exposed to the incident either primarily or secondarily, resemble each other. While in primary exposure the perceived threat is subjective, in secondary exposure the threat belongs to the person one interacts with. Secondary exposition to trauma may lead to re-experiencing, avoidance, and increased arousal symptoms as well as impairment in daily functioning. Briefly, secondary exposition to a traumatic incident induces parallel reactions as in those who are primarily exposed. In addition to these, taking specific precautions help decreasing the negative effects of secondary traumatic stress. This review focuses on the secondary traumatic stress and secondary traumatic stress disorder of workers who offer service in relief operations. For this aim, related theoretical concepts along with the literature studies are presented and information regarding ways of coping with the negative effects of secondary traumatization is discussed.

Keywords

• Secondary trauma
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• crisis intervention