"Looking forward to the future and being able to create a renewed sense of self. The traumatic event is no longer the primary event in one's life. Therefore, being able to reconnect with oneself and embrace the future without feeling overwhelmed is also a positive sign in trauma healing," Dr Parul told HT.
The normal healing and recovery process involves the body coming down out of heightened arousal. The internal alarms can turn off, the high levels of energy subside, and the body can re-set itself to a normal state of balance and equilibrium. Typically, this should occur within approximately one month of the event.
Safety is perhaps the most difficult part of the trauma recovery process. If you do not feel safe in your body, environment, or relationships, then you will not be able to healthily process the trauma experience(s).
After practicing TRE® people often use the words 'grounded', 'relaxed' and 'calmer' to describe their feelings. After a period of several months people have reported relief from illnesses such as Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Eczema and IBS.
Many may often ask themselves, “Will I feel this way forever?” The answer to this is both simple and complex. The effects of trauma that evolve into ost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will never entirely go away. However, they can be managed with proper treatment to make them less severe to live a normal life.
If your psychological trauma symptoms don't ease up—or if they become even worse—and you find that you're unable to move on from the event for a prolonged period of time, you may be experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Cognitive Signs of Unhealed Trauma
You may experience nightmares or flashbacks that take you back to the traumatic event. Furthermore, you may struggle with mood swings, as well as disorientation and confusion, which can make it challenging to perform daily tasks.
The symptoms of unresolved trauma may include, among many others, addictive behaviors, an inability to deal with conflict, anxiety, confusion, depression or an innate belief that we have no value.
Understand the Healing Process Is Not Linear
But this does not mean that your healing process is a failed effort. In fact, the return of memories and feelings connected to the trauma happens to most people at some point. While it can be frustrating, it does not mean that you have lost progress.
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala. This activates the body whenever a situation reminds the person of the traumatic event(s).
Not everyone who survives a traumatic event develops a mental health problem. The feelings that you're feeling after going through a trauma are normal, and any human being would experience them in your shoes. Sometimes, people are able to heal from trauma without the support of professional treatment.
Emotional healing is the process of acknowledging, allowing, accepting, integrating, and processing painful life experiences and strong emotions. It may involve empathy, self-regulation, self-compassion, self-acceptance, mindfulness, and integration.
Trauma is difficult to heal from. It's meant to be. Trauma is the way that our brains and bodies adapt to an experience or environment of life-threatening powerlessness: to situations of overwhelm that are extremely dangerous to our survival. If our brains and bodies don't take that seriously, we won't stay alive.
Our brains are more susceptible to change than many people think, and even though overcoming trauma is a difficult process, you're actually changing the way your brain works: adding new pathways, increasing the functions of certain areas, and strengthening connections.
Smiling when discussing trauma is a way to minimize the traumatic experience. It communicates the notion that what happened “wasn't so bad.” This is a common strategy that trauma survivors use in an attempt to maintain a connection to caretakers who were their perpetrators.
It's quite another to commit to discussing it with someone else. The truth about trauma therapy is that it may make you feel worse at times. Trauma shatters a person's sense of safety, so it's vital to find a mental health professional you feel comfortable sharing with and trust to lead you through the healing process.
What is Trauma blocking? Trauma blocking is an effort to block out and overwhelm residual painful feelings due to trauma. You may ask “What does trauma blocking behavior look like? · Trauma blocking is excessive use of social media and compulsive mindless scrolling.
No one type of trauma is “worse” than another. You can even experience the same type of trauma—or even the same event—as someone else and have different reactions to it. If something hurts you, it hurts, and your natural emotional reaction is valid. It can be helpful to think about “big T” trauma and “little t” trauma.
Symptoms of Unresolved Trauma
Hypervigilance and inability to let one's guard down5. Lack of trust and difficulty opening up to other people6. Dissociation and a persistent feeling of numbness7. Control issues, to overcompensate for feeling helpless during the traumatic incident8.
Studies suggest that trauma could make you more vulnerable to developing physical health problems, including long-term or chronic illnesses. This might be because trauma can affect your body as well as your mind, which can have a long-term impact on your physical health.
Fortunately, an individual's life doesn't have to be defined by their trauma. With professional help, it's possible to get back to normal after a traumatic event.
Many people will be able to recover after a traumatic event with support from family, friends and their workplace. Even when you have recovered from a traumatic event, you probably won't forget about it. You might still feel negative emotions about it or find it upsetting to think about from time to time.