Introduction

Many of us have had a traumatic experience where you have been confronted with an unexpected event, upsetting emotions, constant danger or freighting memories. When you have experience emotional trauma in your life you might feel numb, disconnected and unable to trust other people again. Trauma can have devastating effects on you and it takes time to heal and feel save again. But with the right treatment, self-help strategies and support one can have a speedy recovery. It does not matter what happened or when the event happened, you can heal and recover to your own self.

The Symptoms of Emotional and Psychological Trauma

Firstly one has to understand that people react differently after a Traumatic event. People have different emotional and psychological reactions depending on their personality, background setting, culture, and much more. It needs to be understood that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to thing, feel or respond to trauma, so do don’t judge yourself or the reactions of other people. These responses are normal against abnormal events.

Emotional and psychological symptoms of Trauma:

• Shock, denial or disbelieve
• Anger
• Mood swings, irritability or frustrations
• Anxiety or fear
• A feeling of disconnection towards the world, self or other people
• Feeling of sadness and hopelessness
• Guild, shame or self-blame
• Confusion or difficulty to concentrate

Physical symptoms of Trauma:

• Insomnia
• Nightmares
• Flashbacks
• Fatigue
• Low concentration levels
• High or low Blood sugar
• High or low blood pressure
• Muscle tension or spasms

These symptoms usually last for a few day to a few months and gradually fading away as the individual is processing the trauma event. During this time you will feel better as time goes by but feelings, thoughts, memories might be stronger on some days that others. Trigger points like sounds, images and more might also be a factor in bringing about the symptoms again and again. Through this period one should see a positive decrease in these symptoms and as the saying goes “time heals” is very true.

The Grieving Period:

In cases where there is a loss the survivors firstly deal with the trauma of the event and then following that goes through a grieving period. Here the survivor must cope with reality of the loss, find a sense of safety and security and not get lost in the process. There are a healthy grieving and non-healthy grieving process and that is why it’s recommended for people see seek help through these times to lean on others for support, understand how to help oneself or speak about your feeling and thoughts in a controlled environment.

When professional help is needed:

Recovering from trauma takes time and people heal at their own pace but when you find yourself in a position where there is no decrease of symptoms and it has been going on for longer than 6 weeks and more I would recommend to seek professional help. Many times people don’t know how to deal with loss or trauma and then find themselves abusing medication, drugs or alcohol. They don’t know how to positively deal with the hurt, anger or mixed emotions. These most surely are trying times and it takes courage to heal in a healthy way.

Seek help for emotional and psychological trauma when you:

• Have trouble to function normal at work or home
• Become emotionally withdrawn and numb towards other people or love ones
• Experiencing severe fear, anxiety or depression
• Avoiding, people, situations, or anything that reminds you of the trauma event
• Experiencing overwhelming nightmares and sleeping disorders
• Loss of appetite
• Using alcohol and drugs to make you feel better

When you are suffering from emotional trauma understand that there is a process involved for healing to take place. Do not assume you will be ok and do nothing about your situation. This article is to make people aware of the symptoms they will experience going through emotional or psychological trauma.