Trauma is a natural reaction to an adverse event. We all experience traumatic feelings from time-to-time and is a natural emotional state when it is short lived. Trauma, however, when left untreated, prolonged or unresolved can feel debilitating and can turn into a serious psychological injury, often leading to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Traumatic patterns and/or PTSD affects how you feel, think and impacts on the body and nervous system.

 

Trauma can show itself in many ways; a sense of mistrust, lack of safety, hypervigilance, an inability to remember clearly, guilt, shame, a sense of disconnection or dissociation with the body, an inability to think clearly, sadness, anxiety, avoidance, depression, anger, flashbacks and nightmares, reliving memories, images or events, destructive self-soothing with drugs, alcohol or other methods to dull pain and distressing emotional states. Trauma means that it can be very difficult to accept or come to terms with what has happened, as well as impede on decision-making. Trauma impacts on daily living, as well as appetite, sleep and/or eating.

 

Traumatic events can include war and combat, natural disasters, sexual abuse, physical incidents, witnessing a death, being in a near-death experience, and family and domestic violence. Keep an eye out for a blog to be published on trauma in greater detail.