If you’ve gone through a traumatic experience, you may be struggling with upsetting emotions, frightening memories, or a sense of constant danger. Or you may feel numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. When bad things happen, it can take a while to get over the pain and feel safe again. But with the right environment, self-help strategies, and support, you can speed up your recovery. Whether the traumatic event happened years ago or yesterday, you can heal and move on.
Trauma is often the manifestation of mental or physical wounds and can drastically affect your mental wellbeing and day-to-day life. The most common causes of Trauma that are over looked:
- Falls or sports injuries
- Surgery (especially in the first 3 years of life)
- The sudden death of someone close
- A car accident
- The breakup of a significant relationship
- A humiliating or deeply disappointing experience
- The discovery of a life-threatening illness or disabling condition
Trauma can also be caused by childhood experiences. Be it due to physical or sexual abuse, separation from a parent, bullying, neglect, being brought up in an unsafe or an unstable environment, etc.
Recovering from a traumatic event takes time, and everyone heals at his or her own pace. But if months have passed and your symptoms aren’t letting up, you may need professional help from a trauma expert.
In order to heal from psychological and emotional trauma, you must face and resolve the unbearable feelings and memories you’ve long avoided and suppressed. Otherwise they will return repeatedly, causing discomfort.
Trauma treatment and healing involves:
- Processing trauma-related memories and feelings
- Discharging pent-up “fight-or-flight” energy
- Learning how to regulate strong emotions
- Building or rebuilding the ability to trust other people
- Helping you take back control of your life