When somebody experiences a traumatic event, they're often supported by people in social work, legal and clinical contexts who ask them repeatedly to recount their personal stories. This retelling of these events can exacerbate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and potentially re-traumatize the person.
If someone is already thinking about and ruminating on their traumatic past all the time, without trying to avoid or block it out, doing exposure work of talking about it more will actually make it worse and keep them stuck.
Key points. Many people benefit from talking about past trauma, and several cultures and professions encourage such sharing. Some people choose not to discuss trauma. Instead, they focus on other people's issues or more pleasant topics, keeping traumas hidden.
This fear of rejection or judgement silences them. Many people are not trained to talk to survivors of trauma so it's important to know not to belittle, dismiss, or ask questions about what happened. It's important that the person sharing their trauma with you is believed by you and that you validate their emotions.
rather than increase, and that others can be trusted to understand and help.
There are a few reasons why people might engage in trauma dumping. For some, it might be a way of seeking validation or attention. Others may feel that they need to unload the burden of their experience onto someone else. Still, others may not know how else to cope with their feelings surrounding the event.
Smiling is a way to “protect” therapists.
By downplaying their pain they are attempting to minimize the upset they believe they are causing. Laughing while recounting something painful says, “I'm OK, you don't have to take care of me. ' Instead, clients are actually attempting to take care of their therapists.
The crying can be a way for the nervous system to come down from the fight-or-flight response, since crying is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system which calms the mind and body. The sadness can also come from feeling overwhelmed by a world that feels terribly threatening.
Several types of trauma-focused psychotherapies (or, talk therapies) are highly recommended for PTSD. "Trauma-focused" means that the therapy focuses on your memory of the traumatic event or what it means to you.
Effects of Unresolved Trauma
Not only can it lead to psychological distress, such as depression, anxiety, and flashbacks, but it can also cause physical symptoms like headaches and fatigue. Unfortunately, these concerns often go unrecognized or ignored for long periods of time.
Talking about the trauma can be important
Allow the person to talk about what happened, even if they become upset. Just be calm yourself and listen carefully – getting upset too doesn't help. Don't insist on talking if the person doesn't want to. They may need time to be alone with their thoughts.
Talking about the traumatic memories with a trained therapist can provide the patient with education about their symptoms so they don't feel so alone and out of control. Talking can desensitize people to their memories, which gradually allows them to stop avoiding reminders of the trauma.
In fact, young children between the ages of 0 and 5 are the most vulnerable to the effects of trauma since their brains are still in the early formative years.
Communicating will be important if you are to continue to be around the person who traumatized you. This includes discussing what happened and acknowledging the situation. Yet, it also means learning and practicing communication skills so that situation doesn't happen again in the future.
Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited.
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.
People can forget they were exposed to traumatic events because the brain does not process and store trauma memories like regular experiences. However, the trauma can remain in the subconscious mind for years without victims realizing they have PTSD.
A trigger might make you feel helpless, panicked, unsafe, and overwhelmed with emotion. You might feel the same things that you felt at the time of the trauma, as though you were reliving the event. The mind perceives triggers as a threat and causes a reaction like fear, panic, or agitation.
If you can recall times when you've overreacted, and perhaps have even been surprised at your own reactions, this may be a sign of trauma. It's not uncommon for people suffering from emotional trauma to have feelings of shame and self-blame.
Therapists also recognize that crying is not always a sign of distress but can also be cathartic and lead to personal growth. For example, some people may cry when they come to terms with difficult life experiences or when they achieve something meaningful that was previously out of reach.
' Crying can lower your blood pressure, decrease manganese levels (which can cause additional anxiety) and remove toxins and bad energy which will all help someone with PTSD.
Humor can be used to change your perspective of the trauma from serious to lighthearted, which may help to regulate stressful emotions. In short, laughing and making light of matters that feel serious or heavy may help relieve the emotional effects of the trauma.
Extreme emotional instability is also a sure-tell sign of trauma where the person may express anger or rage, irritability, and other outbursts that are uncharacteristic of their typical behaviors. Therapists often observe emotional mood swings that are difficult to control for the individual.
A mental health professional who has experience helping people with PTSD, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker, can determine whether symptoms meet the criteria for PTSD.