Trauma
Trauma means injury – to our mind, body, and spirit. It often challenges the integrity of our body and our sense of ourselves, challenging the very foundations upon which we build our lives. Healthy beings move toward complexity. After trauma, we tend oscillate between rigidity (withdrawal, inhibition, flashbacks) and chaos (agitation, disorganization). Trauma can be caused by experiencing or witnessing abuse, rape, violent crimes, health crisis, natural disasters, accidents, and even healthcare itself.
Exposure to trauma can lead to the following symptoms:
- aggression
- fearfulness
- difficulty sleeping
- unusual physical symptoms
- flashbacks
- amnesia & loss of memory
- depression & anxiety
Trauma appears to stimulate visual images and powerful emotions, inhibiting our capacity to verbalize our experience. There is a difference between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Acute Stress Disorder. In PTSD, symptoms are present for atleast one month, and worsen in time if left untreated. The latter, although impactful, begins and ends within 4 weeks of trauma.
Below is a list of PTSD symptoms:
- hypervigilance & agitation
- feeling stuck, unable to feel and act (freezing)
- avoidance
- depression & withdrawal
- nightmares & flashbacks
- intense distress at reminders of the trauma
- sleep disturbance
- impaired concentration
- irritability
- exaggerated startle response
- increased heart rate & sweating
PTSD is often a mixed picture, and can often be misdiagnosed. Someone suffering from PTSD may alternate between agitation and restlessness to dissociation and freezing. A common coping mechanism is an avoidance response, one in which any trauma-related thoughts and feelings are inaccessible. Other methods of alleviating anxiety is emotional numbing, psychogenic amnesia (functional amnesia), feelings of detachment and estrangement, and a diminished interest in significant activities.
Although it is important to seek diagnosis and help from a professional as early as possible, it is equally significant to view PTSD as a normal response to an abnormal situation. While it is true that some of us have a propensity for certain psychological reactions, we all experience trauma in unpleasant ways, and cope with our symptoms the best way that’s available to us. There are many successful treatments of PTSD, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Mind-Body Skills Group Therapy (MBSG), Exposure Therapy, and medication, we have yet to comprehend the extraordinary human capacity for resilience and regeneration, and the healing power of love, forgiveness, and community.
At Rocky Mountain Healing Center, our practitioners are experienced and trained in trauma work, utilizing a variety of treatment options to help you through this difficult journey. In addition to individual sessions, we offer Mind-Body Skills Groups to address both the origins and consequences of traumas on your mind, body and spirit, always honoring your inner wisdom and supporting you on your path of healing.
