Schauer et al. (2003) interviewed 3371 Sudanese and Ugandan refugees and counted how many potentially traumatising experiences they had each witnessed or experienced across their lifetime and in the past year.
These included experiences such as, “injury by weapon or gun, beatings/torture/murder, harassment, robbery/extortion, imprisonment, poisoning, sexual abuse/rape, abduction, prostitution/sexual slavery, forced circumcision, suicide, combat situation/shelling/bombings, evacuation under dangerous conditions”.
The study reported a dose-response relationship between the number of traumatic events and the percentage of people meeting criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This means that the greater the number of traumatic events experienced, the greater the likelihood the person will develop PTSD. There was no saturation effect, meaning that at the upper end 100% of the people developed PTSD.
Individuals with PTSD can sometimes blame themselves for developing the PTSD symptoms. They may think something along the lines of, "I have PTSD because I am a weak person" or "These symptoms mean I dealt with this event wrong" or "I should not have these symptoms, I should be able to function better despite the traumatic event" or "It is my fault that I have PTSD" or "I am a freak for reacting like this".
The above finding can sometimes come as a surprise to such individuals as it supports the idea that PTSD symptoms are a normal and natural response to traumatic events and in fact have very little to do with them as a person. Instead, this study supports the idea that PTSD symptoms are instead a human and normal reaction to traumatic events.
In particular, Schauer et al. (2003) supports the idea that anyone would develop PTSD if they experienced enough traumatic events. When combined with other research identifying factors that heighten the risk of PTSD, such as experiencing the trauma at a young age, the interpersonal nature of the trauma, the presence of sexual violence, or the lack of a safe space following the trauma - this highlights how PTSD is not due to some perceived fault in the sufferer. It is in fact just how human brains work after they experience traumatic events of a certain intensity, type or numerosity.
I feel the above research is important to share because such a realisation can sometimes help people suffering with PTSD to seek help and receive evidence-based and effective treatment, for example Narrative Exposure Therapy which Schauer et al., went on to develop.