The Body and Mind’s Responses to Trauma

What is Trauma?

Simply defined by the American Psychological Association (APA), “Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event.” An event that causes trauma could be an accident you were in, physical or emotional abuse you have endured, or even natural disasters going on around you. 

It’s important to acknowledge that trauma is not only reserved for those who experience traumatic events firsthand. In the world we live in, it is easy to see or hear news of traumatic events such as shootings, deaths, wars, accidents, and more. Constant exposure to tragedies through the news and social media can cause second-hand trauma from initial or continued exposure to those events.

The Impact of Trauma on Your Mind & Body

After experiencing a terrible or disturbing event, it is completely normal to experience traumatic stress. Traumatic stress can leave you feeling scared, nervous, vulnerable, or even helpless. You may become physically and emotionally drained from or even completely overwhelmed after going through a stressful event. These are all normal responses to trauma. Some severe responses to trauma include going into shock, denial, experiencing emotional dysregulation, or developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Shock

Shock is a common response to trauma that causes a sudden loss of blood flow throughout your body. Someone who is in shock may appear pale, cold, clammy, blue, have rapid breathing, become dizzy, or could possibly faint. Shock is a critical condition, and if someone you know experiences shock, you should call emergency services immediately.

Denial

Denial is a coping mechanism to protect yourself from the stress of an event. It enables you to proceed with your life without acknowledging your trauma. This can be helpful in the short term for letting your mind subconsciously process your trauma, but is ultimately unhealthy and should not persist.

You may be in denial if:

• You refuse to acknowledge a situation altogether.
• You downplay the seriousness of a situation.
• You avoid talking about the situation or facing the facts of what happened.

Emotional Dysregulation

Trauma survivors may develop issues with regulating their emotions. Not being able to control your emotions could lead to trying to control them in destructive ways.

Signs that someone may have difficulty regulating their emotions include:

• Substance abuse: Drinking, smoking, or overeating to try and provoke certain emotions.
• Engaging in high-risk scenarios: Not seeming to care if they could become injured.
• Developing compulsive behaviors: Gambling, shopaholic, or overworking.

Numbness

Some people can become overwhelmed with emotions after experiencing trauma, while others may feel little emotions as if they were numb. This occurs when someone detaches their emotions from certain thoughts or memories over time. Becoming numb to your emotions can make others think your trauma is less severe than it is because you are hiding your emotions.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

In severe cases, experiencing trauma can lead to developing PTSD. PTSD causes intense thoughts and feelings related to one’s trauma long after the traumatic event occurs.

Symptoms of PTSD include:

• Intrusive thoughts
• Distressing dreams
• Vivid flashbacks of the traumatic experience
• Avoiding people, places, smells, or objects that remind you of the traumatic experience
• Negative thoughts and beliefs about oneself
• Distorted thoughts about the cause of the event
• Self-blame
• Fear
• High reactivity- Quick to anger
• Recklessness – Self-destructive
• Paranoia
• Difficulty focusing
• Difficulty sleeping

For more information about PTSD, check out our blog post: Breaking the Stigma of PTSD and Finding Ways to Move Forward.

How To Cope With Trauma 

One of the most important things to remember is that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to cope with traumatic stress. What works for one person may not work for you, and that is okay. It’s important for people to learn what is most beneficial for themselves. There is also no “right” or “wrong” way to feel. Never make yourself or anyone else feel wrong or guilty about your feelings. We are all human and experience emotions differently.

Here are some tips that could help you cope with trauma:

1. Don’t ignore your feelings: Acknowledge that you have feelings. Traumatic events can cause a multitude of difficult feelings including sadness, anger, guilt, or fear. These feelings are natural, and allow yourself to process the situation through normal means of cognition.
   • Don’t rush recovery and healing.
   • Try to prepare for difficult feelings that could come up.
   • Allow yourself to feel without any guilt or blame.
   • Learn to understand your difficult feelings without becoming overwhelmed.  
2. Take action to overcome feelings of helplessness: Taking positive actions in your life can help you gain control over your feelings.
   • Volunteering can help you feel good about yourself, and hopeful about the world by working alongside other kind-hearted people.
   • Connect with others affected by the same trauma. This action can help you feel better by realizing you are not alone and are not to blame. It can also help alleviate feelings of hopelessness by seeing other people who are learning to live with their trauma.
3. Exercise: Exercising releases feel-good endorphins and can burn off the adrenaline. Focusing on exercise that is rhythmic like jogging or bicycling can really engage your whole body and mind to help you forget about your stress and feel in control. Focus on all of the sensations that your body feels while exercising. Feel free to blast your favorite music while exercising to add to the “feel good” effect and give you more motivation.
4. Prioritize stress reduction: It’s easy enough to want to feel better and take small steps toward reducing stress like buying a meditation book or looking up hiking trails. The real challenge is making stress reduction a top priority. In the same way that you might prioritize working, eating, or sleeping, stress reduction should also be a top priority.
5. Relieve stress in the moment: If you are feeling particularly stressed in a situation, take action to immediately reduce that stress. For example, let’s say every day when you get home from work your partner or roommate tends to fill you in on all of the tragic news events that they’ve seen throughout the day. You are already stressed from a long day of work and don’t need the added stress of thinking about crime near you. Politely ask your partner to withhold the news from you, and go take a warm bath instead.
6. Use your downtime to relax: If you have free time in your schedule, don’t rush to pack it full of activities or chores. Find relaxing, enjoyable activities that you love that allow you to unwind appropriately. 
7. Reach out to others: After experiencing a traumatic event, you may find yourself more withdrawn. It can be hard to resume normal activities or want to socialize with others. As hard as it is, talking with other people face to face is vital to healing and can help relieve stress.

     Some tips for connecting with others are:

• You don’t have to talk about your trauma. If you want to talk about it, that is a good thing, but do not feel pressured. It’s okay just to hang out with other people and enjoy good company without having that difficult conversation.
• You can always expand your circle of friends. If you are not getting enough support currently, it is never too late to make new friends. You may find great supportive friends through volunteering, work, church, support groups, or even at your local gym.
• If you are unable to get together with people in person due to health risks, quarantines, or any other reasons, don’t let that stop you from interacting with others. Use video chat, phone calls, texting, or whatever medium you can. It can be helpful to have regularly scheduled calls with a loved one to help hold you accountable for reaching out and give you something to look forward to on a regular basis.

It’s Never Too Late To Ask For Help

While the above tips for coping with stress can be practiced on your own, that does not mean that you have to figure it all out on your own. If you or a loved one are experiencing traumatic stress, it is never too late to seek help. You do not have to solve all of your problems on your own. Reach out to friends, family, or support groups that can help you feel the love and support that you deserve. If you need additional help managing your traumatic stress or any other mental health concern, please reach out to Alvarado Parkway Institute today. We are here for you and are only a phone call away at (619) 333-7050.

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Sources:

• https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd
• https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0887618508001643
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/first-aid/first-aid-shock/basics/art-20056620
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/denial/art-20047926