Memories are magical– They put a smile on your face and leave you in a sea of tears. Everyone at a certain point in life perhaps experiences a traumatic event like a severe accident, sexual abuse or violation, or any other violent acts.
Most people experience emotional and psychological trauma by experiencing shocking events. While a few experience it by seeing the distressing or bone-chilling events.
Bad things make a huge mark on your mind. They don’t clear off easily. And over time, these bad events turn into painful stress or trauma.
In this article, you’ll learn what emotional and psychological trauma is, its symptoms, how to overcome it, and a lot more. So, let’s get straight into the topic without beating around the bush.
What’s Emotional And Psychological Trauma
In simpler words, emotional and psychological trauma results from an extremely distressing event that shuts down your self-confidence, makes you feel insecure and provides you with a sense of helplessness.
Causes Of Emotional And Psychological Trauma
Here are a few causes of trauma that you should look out for. Especially if you or your loved ones are suffering from trauma, knowing the root cause helps to fix it as soon as possible.
- Unexpected events: These include accidents, severe injury, violent attacks, or unexpected sexual violations in recent times or childhood.
- Emotional Stressful events: These include relationship breakups, death of close ones, extremely disappointed with the behavior of your dearest ones, or emotional betrayal from a person you thought was your whole world.
- Continually distressing events: These occur continuously, such as domestic violence, experiencing health issues for over several years, witnessing crimes in your neighborhood, bullying, and a lot more.
These are only a part of the causes that everyone should know about. Every individual is different and experiences distinct emotional and psychological trauma. Take your time to know the root cause of it. Even after knowing the right cause, it’s tricky to overcome it. Here’s where the therapist plays a crucial role. So, ensure you consult a professional therapist such as a palm harbor therapist to relieve you from all emotional and mental suffering.
What About Childhood Trauma & Its Effects In The Future
Traumatic events happen to anyone at any time. However, the stressful events in childhood take a major part of your long and painful stress. The childhood traumas are worse and severely disrupt the psychological, emotional, or mental growth.
It results in an unsafe development environment for a child and eventually increases the distance between parents and a child. It also leaves the child with serious illness, undiagnosed health issues, and more.
If the childhood trauma isn’t resolved soon, it affects the child’s adulthood. It slowly and deeply imparts a sense of helplessness, fear, overwhelming anxiety, loneliness, and agony. Hence, a parent should take care of children and communicate with them daily to understand their underlying emotions and thoughts.
Symptoms Of A Trauma
The thoughts and emotions surrounding traumatic events aren’t either right or wrong. So, never judge your thoughts; rather, let them flow through your mind like a cool breeze flowing on your skin.
Emotional And Psychological Symptoms
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Sad
- Shock, anger, and self-blaming
- Mood swings
- Confusion or lack of concentration
- Guilt and a feeling of self-harming
- Loneliness
- Helplessness
Physical Symptoms
- Lack of sleep(Insomnia)
- Tiredness
- Irregular heartbeat
- Body pains
- Muscle tension
- Nightmares
So, How To Overcome Emotional And Psychological Trauma?
The trauma symptoms can be observed for a few days to weeks to several months. Although traumatized people look completely natural and well, trauma lies deep inside their hearts. It usually triggers when someone or something reminds us of that particular distressing event. So, how do you overcome trauma?
Simple! Follow the below-given tips to eliminate the stress that’s been bothering you for a long time. Read on.
Move Your Body
Trauma or distress disturbs the body’s equilibrium. Usually, it reduces happy hormones and adrenaline and increases stress-causing hormones and endorphins. So, a perfect way to combat this effect is through exercising for at least 30 to 40 minutes a day.
Since exercise or a mild body movement releases adrenaline, your body retains energy-giving sugars and effectively supplies oxygen throughout the body. Ensure you engage in dancing, walking, running, jogging, swimming, or other activities.
Hangout In Groups
One of the best remedies to emotional and psychological distress is hanging out with your friends or family. Never isolate yourself in a room. It only gives you a bunch of negative thoughts.
Connecting with others diverts your mind from traumatic events and opens up your mind to enjoy other beautiful life events. Participate in social activities, reconnect with your childhood friends, consult a therapist, or ask for your family or friends’ support.
Control Your Nervous System
Whether you’re in anger or fear, pain or happiness, anxious or depressed, it’s essential to understand your body and calm down your nervous system. For this, mindful meditation is highly recommended.
Sit on the chair or the floor. Touch your feet to the ground. Stay calm and feel the breeze around you. Learn to accept the traumatic feelings and stay cool.
A Few Other Practical Ways To Overcome Trauma
- Look out for support and lean on your dearest ones like your mother, father, or soulmate.
- Usually, people avoid thoughts that remind them of traumatic events. But rather than avoiding, try to face the feelings fearlessly. Accumulate all your strength and be brave to face the current situation.
- One of the most common mistakes most people make is avoiding self-care. But did you know self-care eliminates half of your mental, emotional, and psychological issues? Eat nutritious food, relax, apply a face mask, dress well, wear your favorite accessories, and connect to nature.
- Trauma takes time to heal. Remember that good thing take time. So, all you need to do is be patient and turn your fear and agony into your courage and an endless passion to succeed in life.
- One of the best ways to overcome trauma is by helping others and making their lives easier. When you help others, it gives you fulfillment and reduces negative emotions. So, become compassionate and start volunteering.
Conclusion
Trauma is painful. The person experiencing trauma gets upset for no reason, struggles to recall memories, and is easily prone to anxiety or depression. It also gives a lonely feeling despite surrounding yourself with your peers or family members.
In worst cases, recalling traumatic events induces fear. The more the fear, the higher you’re traumatized. If it’s not treated immediately, it can lead to serious issues, including death or physical harm.
Hence, it’s essential to overcome trauma immediately to enjoy a better life. Make sure you follow the above tips and take the help of a professional therapist to prevent harmful thoughts caused by the underlying traumatic events.
