We all experience some kind of emotional trauma at some point in our lives, whether it be light or severe.
Emotional traumas can be triggered by events in any aspect of life. Losing someone from your family or a friend, a broken relationship or divorce, the loss of a much-needed job and financial ruin can all create emotional havoc and trauma. A specific failure or crushing life event can place a barrier on your ability to ever want to exit your comfort zone again.
Emotional trauma can take a toll on both our psychological and physical health.
It can cause detachment from ourselves and those close to us. It can breed a lot of anxiety, insecurities, and fears that never existed previously. It can cripple us and affect our motivation, self-esteem and our ability to form meaningful connections with others. Emotional trauma can, in addition, lead to us neglect ourselves. We may feel as if we are irreversibly damaged and will never heal. The aches and suffering feel as if they last forever, but like most events in life, time can heal all that was broken – we just need to allow it.
This crippling experience can lead us to use drugs or alcohol in order to soften the pain or any feelings emotional trauma brought upon us.
In fact, the addictions of many people are triggered by some kind of trauma. However, substance abuse only creates additional problems, such as worsening our physical, mental and emotional health. Depending on needs, a short or long term rehab is recommended in this case.
We may feel stuck or crippled in the aftermath of a traumatic event and can find it impossible to move on with our lives.
Getting out of this swamp of misery is easier said than done. After going through emotional trauma, many of us may have that person or situation stuck in our heads. We often wonder whether there was something we could have done differently to prevent the eruption of the chaos we are currently in the midst of, while beating ourselves up over things we may or may not have control over.
Learning to let go and the power of acceptance can play a crucial part in healing from emotional trauma.
The first step is to give yourself the opportunity to heal. Something in your head may be telling you that there is something inherently wrong with you. But it is important to remember there is no such thing. This is just the result of a trauma-related response. Only when we allow ourselves to accept a certain person, place, situation or thing as it is, can we get on the path to recovery.
In our darkest moments, it is easy to cut ourselves off from those who care about us and self-punishingly suffer in isolation.
It is paramount, however, to do the opposite – surround yourself with friends and family for guidance and support. Also, do not hesitate to seek professional help. A trained therapist can work wonders for your healing process.
Practicing meditation can be of help as well.
It can teach you how to live in the present, rather than dwelling on past experiences or worrying too much about what the future will bring. Meditation can help your worrying mind by calming it and relieve you of stress and anxiety. It can help you become more self-aware and allow you to see your emotions from a different perspective, without judgment.
Physical exercise can also help you calm your mind immensely and help you recover faster.
It can power up your confidence, and it releases dopamine and serotonin – neurotransmitters that help you combat stress and improve your mood.
For more guidance on how to deal with emotional trauma see the video below.
We hope this article will help you in the process of recovery from emotional trauma. If you have any thoughts or suggestions you would like to share with us, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, and please share this post if you enjoyed the read.