verb

traumatize

TRAW-muh-tyze/ˈtrɔːmətaɪz/

To inflict a severe injury.

Witnessing violence can traumatize children and leave them feeling unsafe.

An adult startled and deeply shaken by a collapsing tree near a home, then supported by a friend in one coherent aftermath scene, East Asian man, no injury.

Etymology

Traumatize first meant to inflict a physical wound. As trauma acquired the sense of a psychological wound, the verb extended to causing lasting emotional shock or injury.

In context

Small Town Monsters21:29

those abductions come with lingering effects for the witnesses that can traumatize them for years after the incidents sometimes even for the rest of their lives the most common of those effects the feeling you're being watched

Night Visitors: On the Trail of UFOs - FULL MOVIE (Alien Abductions, UAP Mutilations, and Coverups!)

More examples

The crash traumatized him, and he still avoids driving.
Repeated surgery can traumatize the tissue around the wound.
Years of abuse traumatized her and made trusting others difficult.

Forms

traumatize · traumatizes · traumatized · traumatizing

trauma noun — A severe physical or emotional injury.

traumatic adjective — Causing serious physical or emotional harm.

Similar words

injure: Usually means bodily harm, without necessarily implying severe damage.
scar: Emphasizes lasting physical marks or emotional damage after injury.