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Emotional Trauma

It’s the suddenness, the unexpectedness of traumatic events that takes you by surprise and leaves you unprepared for dealing with them, at the time or even afterwards, however dreadful the event itself. So you have all these leftover feelings and reactions to sort out and they get in the way of your getting on with your life.

This is normal. It is often said of post-traumatic stress that it is a normal reaction to an abnormal event. It’s what happened that is abnormal, not you. It’s what happened that was crazy, not you.

Most common reactions:

Re-experiencing the trauma

  • repeated distressing recollections of the trauma
  • recurrent distressing dreams, nightmares and sleeplessness
  • flashbacks

Numbing and Avoidance reactions

  • feeling numb
  • avoiding situations

Reactions of increased arousal

  • difficulty falling or staying asleep
  • irritability or outbursts of anger
  • difficulties with concentration and memory
  • hyper-alertness and exaggerated concern for your own and others’ safety
  • exaggerated startle response
  • bodily reactions in response to situations that remind you of your trauma

You can find more details in a very helpful booklet, Understanding your reactions to trauma, by Claudia Herbert, £5.50 from Blue Stallion Publications. Go to www.oxdev.com

So what to do?

Take Rescue Remedy frequently every day until it all calms down. This is a safe remedy specifically designed for emergency situations and includes remedies for shock, hurt, loss, panic, terror, the mind racing, fear of losing your mind, and loss of concentration. You can get Rescue Remedy from health food stores and Boots stores. To find out more, see our page on Bach Flower Remedies.

Use tapping (EFT). This is a simple technique for bringing down the level of any emotion by tapping on specific points on the head and the upper part of the body while repeating a few words to keep your mind tuned into the feeling. These points relate to your energy system as used in acupuncture, so it’s like giving yourself a gentle acupuncture treatment (no needles!). To find out more, see our page on EFT – the Emotional Freedom Technique.

Feel free to express your feelings – things like crying, shaking, shouting, running are actually the body’s natural means of releasing traumatic stress. Don’t hold it in, in the mistaken belief that you’ve got to be ‘in control’. Letting it out is the best means of truly being in control.

Get help from someone who understands what to do with trauma. Talking about it helps some people but others end up reliving it in their imagination over and over again. There are nowadays several effective psychological and energy treatments for trauma and no one has to put it away and live with it any more. Find some expert help. Wellingborough Trauma Centre