Traumatic events are those that put you or someone close to you at risk of serious harm or death.
Our usual ways of coping are overwhelmed, leaving us feeling frightened and unsafe. We can be traumatised through:
one-off events such as an accident, violent attack or natural disaster
ongoing stress such as childhood or intimate partner abuse, bullying, long-term illness or a pandemic such as covid-19
living in an unstable or unsafe environment
seeing someone else get hurt
how you’re affected by trauma does not matter how strong you are. Your reaction can depend on whether you’ve had previous traumatic experiences, other stresses in your life and how much support you have afterwards.
Trauma experts dr rob gordon and anne leadbeater share valuable insights on coping with trauma, helping others who have experienced trauma, and seeking different ways to move forward.
5 New Year's Resolutions for Trauma Survivors
In the twenty or so years of its existence, napac has heard from thousands of abuse survivors who described harrowing, re-traumatising experiences in a wide range of health and social services settings – the very organisations that they looked to for support in their recovery or in their efforts to seek justice. Physical restraint, seclusion and forced treatment are still part of practice in many mental health units, psychiatric hospitals and prisons in the uk.
Disbelief, coercion, manipulation, restriction of movement, shaming, belittling and many other behaviours and dynamics that are reminiscent of the callers’ original abuse are replayed in many service settings and deepen survivors’ physical and emotional distress.
What does trauma mean?
the longer we live, the more inevitable it is that we will experience trauma. Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel the full range of emotions and experiences. Trauma does not discriminate and it is pervasive throughout the world. A world mental health survey conducted by the world health organization found that at least a third of the more than 125,000 people surveyed in 26 different countries had experienced trauma. That number rose to 70% when the group was limited to people experiencing core disorders as defined by the dsm-iv (the classification found in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition).
The first step is to acknowledge that you’ve gone through trauma and accept that your emotions might be affected. After that, you can: reach out to a health care professional like your doctor, nurse, or therapist. “let them know what happened and how you’re feeling about it,” choi says. They may be able to provide resources that can help you feel better. Focus on easing stress, because stress can make the aftereffects of trauma more intense. Good ways to ease stress include: exercise yoga meditation spending time with family, friends, and people in your community (like members of your religious community) if possible, ask your loved ones for support.