Answer to Question 1
Trauma is an event that is extremely upsetting, frightening, or disturbing to those experiencing or witnessing it. Trauma occurs so often that half of all Americans-about 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women-report at least one potentially traumatizing event during the course of their lives. Certain groups, including American veterans who have served in combat zones, are even more likely to experience trauma and its physical and psychological consequences.
Answer to Question 2
Some situations, events, or encounters, such as a challenging semester-long internship or a slow recovery from an injury, where exposure to one or more acute stressors can be frequent and repeated, can be called episodic acute stressors. As distress mounts, you may find yourself misplacing things, forgetting deadlines, and losing items. In addition to frayed nerves, episodic acute stress can cause headaches, stomachaches, and other stress-linked symptoms.
