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We experience trauma when we are exposed to an out-of-the-ordinary event that we find so stressful that it triggers a very strong emotional reaction. Also, what is out of the ordinary is different for different people, as we all have a different history, vulnerabilities and coping strategies.
Traumatic events can be things like being caught up in an armed robbery, a horrific car accident or witnessing a suicide. These events affect a handful of people at a time but the scale and spread of the coronavirus crisis has now exposed hundreds of thousands of people to a collective trauma. Healthy people who suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives, people who were prevented from saying goodbye to loved ones and healthcare workers who were exposed to far more challenging working conditions and deaths than they ever anticipated, are now all feeling the effects.
If you’ve been impacted, whether directly or indirectly, here are some ways to help yourself manage the symptoms you are experiencing and recognise when to seek psychological help.
How to manage a traumatic experience:
Talk about how you feel
If you’ve been through a traumatic experience, it’s important to give yourself the space you need to process what happened and, if possible, make sense of your experience. Talk to family or friends and, if you have access to an Employee Assistance Programme, talk to one of their trauma counsellors. If you don’t have access to an EAP or your symptoms are getting worse, contact your GP, who can also arrange counselling.
Accept your reaction is normal
Constantly going over events in your mind, feeling jumpy or forgetful, experiencing interrupted sleep, feelings of shock or denial about what happened and feelings of guilt or sadness are all normal reactions at first. As is feeling numb and not really feeling anything. Know that these are all normal reactions to an abnormal event you experienced and try not to feel overwhelmed by the intensity of distress that you may be feeling. Over time most people will start to function normally again.
Allow yourself to mourn
The traumatic death of a loved one, or witnessing numerous deaths or the deaths of children, can be particularly hard to bear. Bereavement is the initial sense of loss and despair, but this can then give way to grief, which can manifest itself as shock, anger, disbelief, guilt and profound sadness. Mourning, by carrying out deliberate acts to express your grief, such as arranging a funeral, wearing black, creating some kind of memorial and talking about the person to others, can help you recover.
Look out for signs of PTSD
Most people who have been through a traumatic experience will remain scarred by it, but will become less and less affected by the symptoms of trauma. If after a month, however, you find yourself experiencing extreme physical reactions (such as nausea, sweating or pounding heart) when reminded of the trauma, have invasive memories that make you feel like the trauma is still happening or intense feelings of distress, you could be developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Some possible treatments for PTSD are outlined below.
Get professional support
If exposure to a traumatic event is having a significant impact on your daily life, or you’ve started to experience the symptoms of PTSD, it’s imperative that you seek timely professional support. There are skilled counsellors and psychologists who can help you to recover from a psychological injury, in much the same way as a physician would help you to recover from a physical injury. Contact your GP or EAP for support. They will carry out an initial assessment and recommend a treatment plan.
Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
This helps you confront your traumatic memories so you can control your fear and distress and start doing activities you might have been avoiding (such as returning to your place of work or leaving the house).
Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is a relatively new treatment that can help reduce the symptoms of PTSD by reprogramming the brain through getting you to make side-to-side eye movements, while recalling the traumatic incident.
Group therapy
In some circumstances, group therapy helps you to find ways to manage your symptoms and understand your condition by talking to other people who have experienced a similar trauma and who also have PTSD. Your counsellor or psychologist will advise you if this is appropriate in a given case.
Medication
If you gain little or no benefit from a course of trauma-focused psychological treatment, there are antidepressant medications that have been found to be effective at treating PTSD that your GP can prescribe.
While recovering from a traumatic experience, be kind to yourself and make sure you reach out for help if you need it.
Africa
