Not everyone has the same reaction to trauma, or recovers in the same way, or in a set time frame. Research has shown that there is wide variability in recovery from trauma, with few indications as to who will recover relatively quickly and who will not.
Recovery from trauma can take a lot of time and hard work, but it's absolutely possible. Keep in mind, though, that recovery does tend to be a gradual process. Having patience with yourself, not to mention plenty of self-compassion, can make a big difference.
Responses to trauma can last for weeks to months before people start to feel normal again. Most people report feeling better within three months after a traumatic event. If the problems become worse or last longer than one month after the event, the person may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Posttraumatic stress disorder after the intense stress is a risk of development enduring personality changes with serious individual and social consequences.
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.
Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas.
Trauma often manifests physically as well as emotionally. Some common physical signs of trauma include paleness, lethargy, fatigue, poor concentration and a racing heartbeat. The victim may have anxiety or panic attacks and be unable to cope in certain circumstances.
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.
There are absolutely health impacts from unresolved trauma. Unresolved trauma puts people at increased risk for mental health diagnoses, which run the gamut of anxiety, depression and PTSD. There are physical manifestations as well, such as cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure, stroke or heart attacks.
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.
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.
The energy of the trauma is stored in our bodies' tissues (primarily muscles and fascia) until it can be released. This stored trauma typically leads to pain and progressively erodes a body's health. Emotions are the vehicles the body relies on to find balance after a trauma.
Emotional trauma is recognizable by a persistent sense of unsafety and other challenging emotions such as fear and/or anxiety. It is often accompanied by other physical symptoms as well, such as chronic insomnia, nightmares, and other health issues.
Overall, we found no strong evidence of the link between exposure to potentially traumatic experiences and current identity status with some indication that those who were exposed to trauma were less likely to develop coherent identity, compared to those who did not have adverse experiences over their lifetime.
Feeling jittery, nervous or tense.
Women experiencing PTSD are more likely to exhibit the following symptoms: Become easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions, experience numbness. Avoid trauma reminders.
We often will feel sad and cry after a highly traumatic event. 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 Healing Process
It might seem like trauma does irreversible damage to your brain--that's not true. Our brains are extremely adaptable. Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to form new connections, explains why we can rewire our brains to reverse trauma's damaging effects.
The functions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex that are affected by emotional trauma can also be reversed. The brain is ever-changing and recovery is possible.
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.
Symptoms of facial aging and trauma can range from wrinkled, drooping skin to injuries that cause pain and interfere with sight, smell, speech and breathing. Symptoms of aging skin can include: Fine lines and wrinkles. Loss of skin elasticity.
New Insight for Mental Health Therapies
The findings suggest that when faced with traumatic stress, the brain can activate a different system to form and suppress memories.