Information on trauma
By definition, an experience is traumatic
when it defines the way people organise their subsequent
perceptions. This means that emotions related to
traumatic experiences keep returning and do not
fade with time, thus giving the sufferer the despairing
feeling that they will never recover.
Emotional consequences from involvement
in a traumatic event can include frequent nightmares,
flashbacks, anxiety and panic attacks.
These reactions may be experienced
by those involved in the trauma but also those who
witnessed the trauma, heard about it from others
or watched it on the television. Your reaction depends
on many factors and some reactions you might experience
may appear unrelated to the trauma.
All of these reactions are NORMAL
reactions to what is an ABNORMAL event.
For most people these normal reactions
to an abnormal event in their lives will slowly
fade over a period of approximately 4 weeks. People
need this time to cope with the trauma itself, to
think about it, talk with others, cry, try to understand
and then adapt to moving on with life.
There are also complex neurobiological
alterations in both the central and autonomic nervous
systems and psychophysiological changes evident
in those suffering with PTSD, which makes a 'pull
yourself together' response not only unhelpful but
completely inappropriate for sufferers.
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for more information on trauma.
