There are many thoughts and feelings associated with a traumatic experience, trauma occurs when we are faced with any terrible situation, such as the loss of a spouse suddenly,a major car wreck, fire, witness to an accident, natural disaster, an attack on your person, war, e.t.c.
Many people who are recovering from a traumatic experience mentally block out the experience that caused distress while others will relive it time and time again. Trauma can bring many feelings such as.
1. Shock from the Trauma.
Shock is a normal reaction to any traumatic experience and the closer you were to the experience the more shock sets in. Your brain has to process the terrible images you have seen and this is when the feelings of shock set in and will take time to digest.
2. Disbelief that the trauma took place.
Disbelief happens to many people experiencing a shocking situation have strong belief that what they have witnessed cannot possibly have happened.
3. Denial that the traumatic event happened.
Many people deny that the event happened; they try to force it out of their mind.
4. Emotional pain from Trauma.
Even if you have not been hurt in the incident you will feel the pain of those around you who did.
5. Anger as a result of Trauma.
After shock, anger will set in, you will ask yourself “why has this happened to you” and you can feel anger towards anyone and everyone.
6.Placing Blame for the Traumatic event.
We very often blame ourselves or others for what has happened, we may even blame God for letting this happen.
7.Trauma can lead to Sadness.
When overcoming a particular traumatic experience you will feel waves of sadness suddenly overwhelming you.
8.Depression as a result of Trauma
For some time after the experience you may suddenly lapse into depression from time to time.
9. Anxiety from Trauma.
Anxiety often develops from fear and can continue for some time after the experience.
All of the above are the most common feelings and thoughts associated with having gone through trauma; these feelings can come in no particular order and at any time.
What you should realize is that these feelings are only natural and are your body and minds way of coping with what happened, the feelings and thoughts will eventually dissipate with time.
There are many ways you can cope with them and help yourself to overcome them, the best way for you of course will depend on the severity of the trauma you were exposed to.
There are however a number of coping skills which can be learnt in order to help you overcome trauma.
7 Methods of Overcoming Trauma.
1. Talking about what happened and letting it all out.
You do not want to keep the feelings about what happened bottled up inside of you. It is much better to talk with someone and express how you feel and perhaps let those feelings go.
2. Listening to and accepting advice from family, friends or a counselor.
Along with talking to others about how you feel it is good to seek out someone that has been through the same or a similar experience and listen to how they were able to deal with the experience.
3. Accepting the trauma and continuing on with your life.
After many forms of life changing trauma our first method of dealing with it is to deny that it ever took place. We bury it inside of ourselves. The problem with this is that the memories and feelings associated with the trauma are still with us only buried. And these memories and feelings do not really go away, they just eat at us from inside and affect our view of the world in ways we have no control over. The best way to deal with any trauma is to accept what happened and deal with it openly in the best manner you can, and then move on in your life.
4. Changing your environment after trauma.
Sometimes the best way to put the trauma you have gone through is by getting away from the environment it happened in. This is probably best if the trauma that happened involved a physical attack or a robbery.
If the trauma involved the loss of a loved one it might be best to wait awhile before you make any major decisions about life changing environment changes.
5. Recreational activities as a means of coping with Trauma.
When recovering from a traumatic event there are times when you need relief from your day to day activities and distract yourself from the thoughts and feelings you are going through.
Diving into some type of recreational activity can help with this. Find something that you enjoy doing, running, walking, playing cards, volunteering some place that helps others. These activities can help get you outside of yourself and help in overcoming the trauma that you have gone through,
6. Going back to your daily routine after a Traumatic event.
After a traumatic event you will need a period of time to recover emotionally. When you feel up to it taking up your previous daily routine and can help you to recover from the trauma.
This may be difficult at first, and you may have to fake it until you make it. If you start by taking it a minute at a time or an hour at a time then this will help you to eventually take your life back to a some what normal level, where the trauma does not control you and functioning close to where you were before becomes possible.
7. Seminars as a means of Trauma Recovery.
Many people have experienced some form of trauma in their lives, and there are people that have studied trauma and the methods of trauma recovery. Some of these people have decided to use their experience and studies to present seminars on trauma recovery.
By passing on their own experiences that helped them in recovery from trauma they may help you in your recovery from your traumatic experience. Making use of these seminars in your own life can aid in speeding your recovery from your traumatic event.
