Understanding Trauma and its Impact on Mental Health

Hello there! Hope you are doing okay.

I haven’t been very consistent with my blog posts, have I? I don’t have an excuse for it. I am probably tired. Too tired of trying to change how I feel, what I do, what I think, how I am. Healing has not been easy. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting better, and other times, it’s back to square one (and dealing with failure is definitely not one of my strong suits).

One thing that I now know for sure is that your healing can begin only after you have re-lived your trauma, been to where it started, examined every nook and corner of the dark places that hold you captive. That, in itself, might be the hardest part of it all.

What is Trauma?

Trauma is an event in one’s life that is too frightening or stressful to cope with and the effect it has on the person experiencing it. Traumatic events can lead to long term and life-threatening impact on a person and affect anyone at any age. It is a completely subjective experience, where two people might react completely differently given the same circumstances. 

When a person with previous traumatic experiences goes through new trauma, it can make situations worse for them. These might include fear, humiliation, rejection, abandonment, invalidation, shame, powerlessness, and lack of safety or support.

The Effect of Trauma on Mental Health

Apart from the direct effect of developing a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), trauma can make one more vulnerable to mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

Going through a traumatic event can  create a stress response, making your body's defenses more active. This can lead to intense emotions, certain physical symptoms, and behavioral changes in a person.

Most frequently, traumatic instances are initially shown to trigger feelings of exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, and confusion. In the long run one might experience emotional detachment, grief, fears of recurrence, self-blame, difficulty making decisions, increased vigilance, problems at school or work among other things.

What can you do?

Well, if you go looking for an answer online, they say, “seek help”. And you should, definitely. You can talk to someone you trust or see a therapist.  They also tell you to make sure you are socializing, taking care of yourself, eating and sleeping right, staying active, and learning new coping skills. But they don’t tell you what happens after you have done it all.

Whatever you choose to do, you need to be prepared to go back to it. There is no shortcut here, no quick fix. You have to build the strength and courage in yourself to keep revisiting the event(s) until it(they) can stop hurting you. 

And all the times you go back, you’ll feel weak, discouraged, drained. You might even want to give up, trust me. But, then, every single time you fight your demons away, you are one step closer to taking your power back!

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