Moderated Mark's Response To Trauma Essay

• One primary contextual factor that moderated Mark’s response to trauma was his perceived responsibility for the trauma (i.e., culpability). As such, the events of the Marketplace Incident negatively impacted him because he believed he could have taken control of the situation, but he failed to do so, which resulted in innocent people losing their lives. While we are unable to know for sure if firing on the car would have stopped the Marketplace Incident from occurring, Mark believes that to be true. Therefore, part of the reason this traumatic event was the most impactful is related to Mark’s perception of controllability.
• Another impactful contextual factor is the multitude of traumatic experiences Mark has been exposed to. Although Mark did not know his father well, his father’s death could have been somewhat traumatic, as Mark was only 8-years-old when he died. In addition, Mark’s mother was physically and verbally abusive towards him and his sister. Mark’s next traumatic experience occurred in 1989 whereby he sustained shrapnel wounds

Specifically, Mark ran away from home and bounced around multiple foster care homes, which likely led him to believe he could not trust many people and he could only rely on himself. Similarly, the military culture can be known for having a ‘macho’ attitude whereby individuals (specifically males for this example) may feel emasculated if they admit to having mental complications related to their combat experience. Mark’s likely identification to military culture and his belief that he can only rely on himself and not trust anyone, then, likely increased the effects of his traumatic stressors because Mark may have felt ‘weak’ for admitting he needed help, and/or he may have felt like he had to rely on himself to solve his own