While much of the psychological literature on the effects of trauma has focused on specific psychiatric symptoms such as PTSD, there has also been increasing recognition that trauma presents an enormous challenge to our belief and meaning systems, even in the absence of PTSD or other symptoms. Survivors of trauma often struggle to develop an understanding of why the trauma happened, and of why they were singled out to be a victim. They may wrestle with how to reconcile the trauma experience with their fundamental expectations and beliefs about themselves, other people, and the world, leaving them feeling vulnerable, distrustful and uncertain. Faced with this existential crisis, trauma survivors try to develop explanations for the traumatic event and to generate meanings that will allow them to make sense of the world in future. Sometimes the explanations and meanings that are generated enable the survivor to re-establish a sense of trust, control and purpose, while in other cases the explanations and meanings that are formed serve to maintain or even exacerbate the survivor's feelings of distrust, lack of control and despair. This chapter will explore what we currently understand about the ‘meaning’ dimension of the psychological impact of trauma.

Shattered Assumptions and the Search for Comprehensibility

In the previous chapter, we saw that PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing the trauma may occur because traumatic events cannot be categorised and integrated within the beliefs (or schemas) about ourselves, others and the world that we held before the trauma – they simply cannot be located within our existing cognitive map of the world. Janoff-Bulman has identified several core beliefs or assumptions that people hold regarding themselves, others and the world, that are shattered by a traumatic experience. She argues that we all carry implicit assumptions that we take for granted and which we are not always consciously aware of – they are an invisible but vital part of our internal cognitive model of the world and underpin a sense of basic well-being. These include the assumption that we are invulnerable (for example, believing that ‘it can't happen to me’), that we are good and worthy people, that other people are fundamentally good, and that the world is governed by just and orderly social laws (for example, ‘if I am cautious, I can avoid misfortune’, or ‘if I am good, nothing bad will happen to me’).