It’s typical to experience a traumatic occurrence throughout the course of a period, whether it be a violent act, a serious injury, a sexual violation, or another unexpected event. As a result, many people may experience traumatic stress, which is a common response to related anomalous events. Simply being present during a terrible occurrence or having a close friend or family member go through one, might cause someone to feel severe stress.
People frequently experience a whirlwind of erratic emotions and physical symptoms in the days and weeks following such a catastrophe. They are as follows:
- Sadness
- Feeling uneasy or hypervigilant
- Intolerance or rage
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Relationship problems
- Obtrusive ideas, memories, or nightmares
- Having difficulty feeling happy feelings
- Avoiding people, places, memories, or ideas connected to the traumatic event
These symptoms frequently return over time. Except for a small number of people, many severe symptoms stay with them or significantly interfere with everyday life and don’t go away on their own. Within a month of a traumatic occurrence, some people may develop an acute stress disorder in which they have severe symptoms of stress that seriously impair their ability to function in daily life, school, work, or social settings. Others will experience the trauma and go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has symptoms that interfere with daily life and persist for longer than a month.
Treating severe stress
The good news is that there are effective approaches to dealing with and treating trauma’s unpleasant effects. According to psychologists and other researchers, the following actions will be helpful:
Rely on your animals. Decide whether to rely on friends or family. Asking them about your knowledge and your feelings about the horrific occurrence is okay if you feel comfortable doing so. To reduce your daily stress, you and your partner will nurture a pet to help you with chores or other responsibilities.
Embrace your emotions. It is customary to refrain from reflecting on a horrific occurrence. But staying inside all day, sleeping all the time, and abusing drugs to block out reminders don’t sound like long-term healthy coping mechanisms. Although it’s customary to turn away, doing so too often will prolong your stress and prevent you from getting well. Try to settle into a regular pattern gradually.
Prioritize self-care. Try your best to eat wholesome meals, engage in regular exercise, and obtain a good night’s sleep. And seek out other healthful practises like music, painting, meditation, rest, and spending time in nature.
Be tolerant. Remember that it’s customary to have a strong reaction to a frightening event. Consider things one step at a time as you heal. Over the following few days, your symptoms should gradually get better.
When to make hunting easier
Not everyone who experiences traumatic stress needs treatment. The general populace heals itself over time. Psychologists and other mental health specialists can help you develop good coping mechanisms for the aftermath of a stressful experience. You will have acute stress disorder or anxiety disorder if your distress affects your relationships, your ability to work, or your ability to function on a daily basis.
Treatments for traumatic stress disorder treatments
Psychologists will provide evidence-based interventions to help you deal with acute stress disorder or traumatic stress.
A further evidence-based approach is psychological feature activity therapy, which is effective in treating traumatic stress as well as a number of psychological diseases. It might be a psychological therapy that teaches patients how to change problematic thought and behaviour habits. Some research indicates that persons who receive trauma-focused treatment are also less likely to acquire a persistent anxiety disorder, even if it also relieves the symptoms of acute traumatic stress in adulthood.
Additionally, a range of psychiatric treatments are being developed to help kids and teenagers who have experienced trauma or negative childhood events like neglect or abuse. Many of these therapies are family-based and involve the child’s parents or other caregivers in the healing process. A doctor can support you if you or a loved one is having trouble adjusting to a traumatic incident.
By Mehreen Bano
