Trauma

It can be difficult to know how to support loved ones through experiences that you can’t understand. To make things worse, PTSD is something unique to each one who experiences it, and it can be hard for the sufferer to talk about it for many reasons. In addition to all of this, PTSD is frequently misdiagnosed and treated as fatigue or depression. We can unintentionally harm our loved ones by the way we react to their PTSD symptoms, regardless of how long they have been apparent. Most of us genuinely want what is best for our loved ones dealing with PTSD, so here are some pointers that could help us help the ones we love. The Dos of Helping Someone With PTSD Acknowledge and validate their struggle It’s always reassuring to be seen in a struggle, and many people with PTSD need that assurance and validation that what they’re going through is hard. Listen to them when they share their experience It can take a lot for someone going through the symptoms of PTSD to open up and share, so when they do, value them by listening. Try to empathize with their feelings It’s hard to level with someone when they’re going through something we can’t understand, but we need to try to empathize with what they’re feeling. Support them as they seek help People with PTSD tend to sit in their feelings for ages. When your loved one starts seeking solutions to their symptoms, encourage them because it is a big deal. Ask them how you can help Asking them how you can help gives them the chance to think of what they need. They might not have even considered how they need help, so this could be a meaningful prompt. The Don’ts of Helping Someone with PTSD [...]

Trauma comes in many forms. The effects of trauma can be a response to any number of experiences or events such as a natural disaster, being in a combat zone, physical abuse, rape, witnessing an act of violence, severe illness or injury, being involved in a car crash, bullying, or childhood abandonment or neglect. Each person’s reaction to trauma is unique. What may be traumatic for one person may not be for someone else. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) describes it as “an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects.” Sometimes the effects of trauma are experienced immediately. Sometimes they may be delayed and not manifest until years later. Either way, even when you don’t consciously remember it, unresolved or improperly processed trauma can change the way you think, act, feel, and process information, and have a profound and lasting impact on your mental and emotional stability, self-image, and outlook of the future. An out-of-control response to trauma can negatively impact the quality of every area of your life, from work performance to relationships to your ability to perform daily tasks. Physiological effects of trauma When you experience a traumatic event, your body’s defense system kicks into action, triggering physiological responses that charge your brain and prepare you to react quickly to protect yourself from danger. As stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released into your system you are likely to also experience physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, heightened awareness, racing thoughts, cold hands, and quicker, shallower breathing. This fight or flight response to the perceived threat is an automatically generated survival mechanism over which you have no control. Ideally, [...]