Trauma: Knowledge and Encouragement

What you need to know about Trauma

When people are faced with traumatic experiences, they can sometimes experience severe emotional issues and others have lasting psychological damage because of being traumatized resulting in emotional disorders. Many people who are traumatized as a child will become adults with emotional disorders.

While trauma does cause emotional disturbances, some adults and children have better resilience and overcome the trauma in a shorter amount of time and those individuals normally do not having lasting psychological damage. Another way to prevent lasting damage is to intervene quickly when someone is struggling to cope with the traumatic experience.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), trauma is an emotional response to a horrible event which causes extreme stress. Events that cause trauma in people varies from person to person and examples include but are not limited to rape/assault or being the victim of a crime, war, natural disaster, death of a loved one, and abuse/neglect. These are just a few of the terrible events that can occur and have been known to cause trauma in different people.

Emotional and Physical responses to Trauma are normal

People need to understand the difference between normal responses to trauma and the signs and symptoms of someone who is struggling to cope with trauma. Knowing when someone is struggling could benefit that person by knowing they need extra help. On the other hand, if that person is displaying normal responses to trauma it would help people not attract unnecessary attention and fuss over that person which could cause undue stress to that person.

It is completely normal for people to experience emotional disturbances and physical symptoms immediately after a trauma experience. Symptoms and disturbances from trauma can last from a few days to a couple of months. The symptoms and disturbances can start extremely strong and debilitating, but should fade over time as the person processes and copes with the trauma.

                   Normal Symptoms of Trauma:

Physical Symptoms               Emotional and Psychological Symptoms

Insomnia or nightmares             Shock, denial, or disbelief

Being startled easily                 Anger, irritability, mood swings

Racing heartbeat                    Guilt, shame, self-blame

Aches and pains                     Feeling sad or hopeless

Fatigue                              Confusion, difficulty concentrating

Difficulty concentrating             Anxiety and fear      

Edginess and agitation              Withdrawing from others

Muscle tension                      Feeling disconnected or numb

If someone is displaying these symptoms for an extended time frame or for a lasting intensity that doesn’t seem to be improving from day to day, then they are most likely struggling with their trauma. Also people who drastically experience one symptom over any other and it too is lasting, they too are struggling with their trauma. People who struggle with trauma truly need some extra attention and care for them to overcome the trauma.

There are also more obvious signs of someone who is struggling to cope with their trauma. These signs are more easily seen and most don’t need to be told to you by the person experiencing trauma. These signs are big red flags and those people should seek professional help to cope with their trauma and the issues they are dealing with.

Signs of someone struggling with their trauma:

Having trouble functioning at home, work, or school

Avoiding things, people, or places

Withdrawing from friends and/or other social situations

Using alcohol or drugs

If they are experiencing nightmares or flashback and terrifying memories

Someone who is suffering from severe emotional responses to their trauma can develop emotional disorders if they do not seek treatment and/or therapy. These severe emotional responses are typically fear and anxiety or depression. In some more severe cases, people can experience all three simultaneously.

If you see or know someone who is struggling with trauma, please reach out to them. Someone may just need someone to talk to and other may need the encouragement to seek professional help.

What you can do to support someone dealing with a Traumatic experience:

One of the biggest things you can do for someone with dealing with trauma is to let them express themselves. Most people will feel better after they talk about what is on their mind and how they feel. When trying to help someone open up and talk it is best not to ask that person, who is in extreme emotional pain, “what’s wrong with you?”. This is a big No, No!

It is much less insulting and less painful to ask the question differently. It’s better to ask “what has happened to you?” than to ask “What’s wrong or What’s wrong with you?”.  If you are truly trying to help that person open up and talk about what is causing them so much pain and turmoil, then you need to find a way to approach the topic without shutting down the conversation.

I know that after my mom died, I struggled with being able to talk about how I was feeling and the thoughts that were going through my mind. Even though it was hard, the more people who cared helped me to talk about it, the more I started to feel better and stop thinking about it the way I was. The people who helped me the most ask brief open ended questions and then let me talk while they actively listened. With my loved one’s help and a grief counselor I have been able to pull myself out of depression and stop the cycle of thoughts that were only bringing me down.

When trying to help someone open up it’s important to ask open ended questions. Once you get that traumatized person talking, let them talk! Make sure to actively listen to them. Try your best to show them you understand where they are coming from without saying “I know how you feel” as this is also a Big NO, NO! Even if you are sharing in the loss of a loved one, you don’t know exactly how someone else feels. People hold different roles and had different life experiences with that lost loved one and because of this no one experiences death the same.

If the person who has been traumatized is a child, then talking about the experience may not be that helpful. Little ones can still be encouraged to express themselves and should be in order to help them process and overcome the trauma. Children can express themselves in a variety of ways. Be creative and join them in their activities of expression because this will help the bond you share as well as give the child a sense of security while exploring tough feelings.

Ways children can be encouraged to express themselves:

Drawing/Coloring

Singing

Puppets

Role-playing/Make believe

Dolls

Sculpture/Clay

Writing activities

Reading books about the topic

Making a scrapbook or other craft project

What I hope you remember:

Comparing your pain and trauma to another’s extremely unhealthy and unjust. What causes extreme distress to one person may not be as distressing to someone else. Everyone is different and therefore they experience trauma differently. Having compassion and loving without judging is the best practice.

Keep an open mind while having concern!

Reach out to those in need!

Resources for those needing help:

http://www.apa.org/topics/trauma/

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/emotional-and-psychological-trauma.htm

http://www.dougy.org/ (children’s resource)

Thank you!

Thank you for reading and please leave me a comment I would love to know what you think.

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Could you think of more ways to encourage children to express themselves?