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Originally Posted On: https://www.mindhealing.online/how-can-i-recover-from-trauma
Not everyone who has been through a horrific event is left permanently damaged. However, recovery necessitates the complete processing of painful emotions.
Because the human psyche has a tremendous capacity for recovery and even growth, not everyone who experiences a traumatic event is permanently scarred. In order to recover from a traumatic incident, the unpleasant emotions must be processed effectively. Traumatic feelings cannot be forgotten or suppressed. If worrisome feelings and distressing occurrences are not handled openly, they can lead to a condition known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can last a lifetime.
Whatever inner resources people need to summon to recuperate, they will not be able to complete the task independently. Disconnective disorders, such as depression and trauma, are common. They don’t get better if they’re left alone. It would help if you were connected to others in order to fix them.
There are four basic stages to recovering from extreme stress. Recovery requires progression through all four stages.
Stage One: Break the Circuit
The circuit breaker in an electrical system activates and shuts everything down if you the system with too much energy and excitement. When the human neurological system is overloaded with too much stimulus and too much danger, as it is in trauma, it also shuts down to its most fundamental functions. People describe feeling numb, shocked, or dead on the inside.
The liquid stops flowing. You lose 50% to 90% of your mental capacity when you’re “in the trauma zone,” which is why it’s best not to make a decision “in the trauma zone.” You are emotionally unaffected. You’re spiritually disconnected, you’re going through a spiritual crisis, or it doesn’t mean anything to you.
Physically, all of your systems are turned off, and you are reduced to the bare essentials. What’s even more surprising is that those physical problems which were previously noticeable often vanish throughout this period. Back pain, migraines, arthritis, and even acne are frequently relieved. Then, the physical symptoms resurface once the trauma has been fully recovered.
Feelings begin to return as the system starts to recover and can tolerate a little more stimulation and energy—and the human system is designed to attempt to heal, to seek equilibrium.
Stage Two: Returning To Feeling Emotions
Most people haven’t been through enough primary trauma to require the services of a professional counsellor; instead, they can work through their feelings by involving those close to them. They accomplish this by recounting their story a hundred times. They must converse, converse, converse, and relate the gruesome details. That is how individuals begin to remove the distressing feelings associated with their recollections.
The more feelings that can be cultivated, the better. The more you feel, the faster you’ll recover.
Feelings can be expressed in a variety of ways. It’s possible that talking is the most convenient option for most people. Others, on the other hand, may be required to write. Alternatively, you may sketch. The rest of us owe it to them to listen to their stories, no matter how they tell them.
It can sometimes be beneficial to return to the scene of the disaster. This permits someone who has been personally impacted to experience and comprehend the incident emotionally. That immediate experience can trigger the return of feeling. However, not everyone should visit the scene. Some people find it too upsetting. Others may require the assistance of loved ones to return to the scene.
When people are confronted with a crisis, they use one of four basic types of emotional expression. They’re referred to as “feeling styles.” Some people have a consistent style, while others have all four characteristics at different periods.
It’s critical to understand which types of emotional expressions are typical of your response, as well as the patterns your loved ones exhibit. Each one necessitates a unique strategy.
The Trickle Effect
Feelings come in small bursts, gradual yet persistent. The majority of the time, tricklers have low or middling sensations.
Hit and Run Feelings
Some people are struck by an emotion, experience it intensely, and then find it so frightening that they flee. They ignore it and may go days, weeks, or even months without speaking about it. Then they get hit by the feeling again, it explodes, and they flee.
Roller Coasters
Many people have emotional ups and downs. They are aware of their emotions, yet their emotions are all over the place. Like a roller coaster, they can go through the emotion stage quite quickly.
Tsunamis
Emotions arrive in tidal waves so large, thorough, and overwhelming that individuals who experience them feel as if they’re drowning. They flail around for a while, then the wave passes, and they realize they’re still alive and feeling better. Tsunamis are frequently caused by people suppressing their pain.
Stage Three: Taking Constructive Action
People must act and make a difference, even if it is in the tiniest of ways. Taking action re-establishes control and immediately combats the sense of powerlessness that is a hallmark of trauma.
There are numerous options for action. Sometimes this may involve helping others. You can assist someone who is out of control in regaining control.
You do your best and never assume that any gesture is insignificant. When confronted with an overwhelming circumstance, you don’t look at the big picture. You choose what is closest to you and where you can have the most impact—writing about the trauma or making a work of art about it could be constructive actions. It also includes returning to work so that you may make a contribution.
Stages two and three are intertwined. To move forward, you must feel and act. You can’t have it both ways. Acting and emotion combine to create a driving force that pulls you ahead.
Stage Four: Reintegration
As there is a window of opportunity in the aftermath of a catastrophe, it is feasible to learn and grow 100 times quicker than at any other time. In every aspect of life, growth can occur at breakneck speed.
You can learn a lot that is insightful and deep. This is accomplished by interacting and collaborating on the meaning of the painful event. Those who have the guts to join the trauma tribe, experience and share their anguish, or assist them in overcoming their pain can also share their progress.
Everyone who goes through this process becomes better, stronger, wiser, more connected, and more connected as a result of it. They’d say so, and anybody who comes into contact with them notices the difference. It’s as though you’ve fractured a bone. If it heals properly, the area where it fractured will be stronger than before the injury.
Traumatic experiences break the soul’s bones. You become stronger if you participate in the rehabilitation process. If you don’t, your bones could become porous, with permanent holes inside, and you will become significantly weaker.
You can find that you can reintegrate yourself and your values in a new way throughout this rehabilitation stage. You make significance a part of your existence. You incorporate more honest and deeper forms of communication.
People at this stage may have a revived sense of the significance of links to others, as well as a clearer grasp of their goals and fresh devotion to them. However, in order to reach stage four, you must first complete the first three stages.
