What Is Secondary Trauma? Who Gets It, Symptoms, and More

Secondary trauma is a trauma reaction that can happen in people who have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of others. 

It happens in some people upon learning about an experience that hurt or traumatized other people, even though they didn’t experience it themselves.

It can happen in someone when they directly hear another person recount a traumatic experience. But it may also happen in people who don’t speak directly with trauma survivors, such as after seeing TV or social media coverage of a traumatic event.

Secondary trauma can have negative emotional and physiological consequences. It can change a person’s behavior and feelings, decreasing their sense of self-efficacy, disrupting their sense of safety, and affecting physical health and functioning.

Symptoms are often the same as those in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For some people, learning about others’ trauma triggers difficult memories of their own traumatic experiences.

Secondary trauma and burnout can look similar, but they’re not the same because people can get burnout without indirect exposure to trauma.

• Who gets secondary trauma?: Anyone who has been exposed to the trauma of others can develop secondary trauma. It often happens in first responders, healthcare workers, child welfare workers, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who work with traumatized people. Some people may have a higher risk of developing secondary trauma, including women, people who have higher empathy, and people with unresolved personal trauma of their own.
• How do people get secondary trauma?: It can happen to people who have been exposed to the details of a traumatic event experienced by someone else. They don’t necessarily need repeat or extreme exposure to the details to get secondary trauma. It may also happen to some people after seeing TV or social media content about a traumatic event.
• Symptoms of secondary trauma: The symptoms of secondary trauma are similar to the symptoms of PTSD. Recognized symptoms of secondary trauma include hypervigilance, hopelessness, chronic exhaustion, substance use, guilt, minimizing, avoidance, anger, fear, memory problems, sleep issues, and other physical health issues. For people who work in a healthcare setting, secondary trauma can reduce the ability to provide proper care to clients or patients.
• Treatment for secondary trauma: Secondary trauma can be treated. Research-backed treatments include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness practice, caseload adjustment, and informal social support. Some coping strategies may help people more than others, such as actively thinking about ways of managing their stress, rather than avoiding or ignoring it. 
• Prevention of secondary trauma: For people exposed to potentially traumatizing experiences through their work, a few actions are critical to help build resilience and prevent secondary trauma, including self-care in the workplace, social support, caseload balancing, and regular self-assessment.
• Other names for secondary trauma and closely related terms: Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatization, secondary traumatic stress (STS), compassion fatigue, indirect trauma exposure.

For a deeper dive on trauma and related topics, explore these Relationship Smart articles:

• How to Break the Cycle of Generational Trauma: Expert Q&A
• 7 Ways Childhood Trauma Can Affect Your Relationships
• What Is Trauma Dumping? Why It Can Be Harmful