What is trauma?
It could be any event that alters your existence and impacts your being.
Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, and diminishes their sense of self.
It could be any event that alters your existence and impacts your being. Trauma affects the way you interact with the world, the way you see yourself – your self-belief, self-esteem, and your relationship with yourself and others.
For some people, a traumatic event can lead to depression, anxiety, living-in-fear, alcohol and drugs misuse, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as impacting their personal and work relationships. The longer we live, the more inevitable it is that we will experience a profound adverse event or trauma at some point. It does not discriminate, and it is pervasive throughout the world.
Different negative effects of trauma
After a traumatic event occurred, we re-enact it and imagine it happening again and again, thus making it harder to differentiate between what is truly happening now and what is not. As a result, we keep on experiencing the event and feeling all the initial emotions repeatedly.
This trauma affects not only your mind and its function but also your physical health. Because the mind and body are connected, trauma breaks down the body and can cause disease and illness.
INHIBITED DECISION-MAKING AND RESPONSE/REACTION TIMES
When trauma is not dealt with and consumes the mind, it becomes the one thing that a person thinks about most of the time. That is when a person with undealt trauma starts making mistakes and missing important details. We find that people who go through trauma might react and respond a lot slower than normally – we refer to this as a loss of awareness. This can very likely lead to major financial losses or putting their own lives or the lives of others in danger.
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)
PTSD is a set of reactions that can occur after someone has been through a traumatic event. The chance of developing this disorder depends on the type of event the person experienced. In posttraumatic stress disorder, the neurochemical responses outlive the original threat and inhibit the system’s ability to return to normal.
Sadness and grief are normal emotions after a traumatic experience. Sometimes people also develop negative thoughts about themselves, other people, and the world in general. These thoughts and feelings of sadness usually lift as they start to come to terms with and recover from the traumatic event. But for some, the trauma can lead to mental health issues such as depression. Depression is a common outcome of experiencing trauma.
Many people experience worry, fear, and anxiety during and after a traumatic event that can make them feel physically sick, terrified, stressed, or on edge. If such feelings persist or the level of anxiety becomes so severe that it significantly interferes with everyday life, it may mean that you have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are common.
After a traumatic event, people can turn to alcohol or drugs to manage the distress they feel. Alcohol and drugs may help with painful emotions and memories in the short term, but they get in the way of recovery.
Experiencing a traumatic event can have a significant impact on family and social- and work life. It is normal to feel a range of strong emotions after trauma, but if your emotions remain intense and are causing problems, it is a good idea to seek some help.
By Shaun Kritzinger (SK Transformation Life coach) shaun@skcoaching.co.za