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Coping With Trauma

Every person experiences trauma in different ways. It is different with each of us. Those events that cause stress, whether it is a coronavirus, plane crash, a traffic incident, or any violent crime, you may experience intense depression, fretful  fear, or a feeling of physical numbness.

Repeated exposure to an incident can overwhelm your mind with stress just as if you experience the event again firsthand.

Traumatic events can destroy your sense of safety and peace, leaving you feeling helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world. But there are so many things that this experience can leave you with.

There is no right or wrong reaction to theses traumatic events.

People usually panic when going thru a traumatic event and react differently to them. You are truly experiencing some things that do not make you feel right, you could feel like you are going crazy, and could definitely use some help.

Don’t ignore your feelings:

It may seem better when you avoid your feelings,  for a short time or be in denial. Do talk to someone about your symptoms. Someone like your doctor who has knowledge of trauma symptoms, or someone like a therapist who has had clients who have suffered with trauma and possesses knowledge of this kind of experience and has been successful in treating trauma victims.

Be patient and calm with yourself and understand that this is part of the recovery.

  •  Know that you will have confused emotions, different thoughts that will make some decisions more confusing. If so, ask yourself why?
  • Try to get back to your daily activities .
  • Find something you enjoy doing.
  • Make life more interesting for yourself.
  • Get involved, doing something you may enjoy, like gardening.
  • Exercising, dancing, running, anything that will rid you of negative energy.
  • Reestablish your routine:
  • Try yoga, meditation, even praying to your creator, angels or whatever, to seek some higher power figure.

After the traumatic event, try to get back to your regular routines as soon as possible it will help you to cope with your trauma like anxiety, stress, paranoia, loneliness, and fear. Do what you must to feel safe again.

Even if your daily life is disrupted you can plan a schedule of eating, sleeping, work, spending time with your family and friends. Doing what you enjoy with friends and even get dog or a cat.

The big decision of life, like buying a home, quitting your job, or leaving family, while still suffering from emotional trauma will make you more depressed and/or stressful, or very angary at yourself or others.  There is a chance of making the wrong choices or decisions when you are not in your right mind. Seek help if you are not feeling yourself after 6 months of suffering with trauma.

Physically, getting involved in an activity also helps calm your nervous system and helps you move on with the traumatic event.

Again, try to exercise in a rhythmic fashion and engage your whole body, walking, running, and swimming are excellent choices to help your mind and body release some of the negative feelings and symptoms.

Add mindful elements by focusing on your mind, body and spirit, how it feels when you move or jump.  Feel the rhythm of your breathing, your feet hitting the ground, or the relaxed feeling of the sun on your skin can also calm your mind and body.

Boost your energy and motivate yourself to exercise. Start by dancing and moving around. Once you start moving around here and there you will feel more energetic.

Get yourself proper sleep:

After experiencing a traumatic or stressful event, it is difficult to have  proper rest or to get to sleep. Worries and fears may keep you up late at night, or bad dreams may disturb you. But getting plenty of sleep, is very healing to your mind, body, and spirit.

The following things can help you have better sleep.

• Avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening.
• Do something relaxing before going to bed. Breathing exercises, meditations.
• Make your bedroom soothing, quiet, sipping your favorite tea before going to sleep.

Getting into a support group or reading information will help you get more healing ideas. Also call someone who you trust to talk to or someone that you know who has gone through something similar especially if that person is a survivor like you.