Traumatic experience
Life is full of a lot of uncertainties and as a result there
are situations that present themselves which in most cases shake the roots of
our emotions thereby causing a lot of instabilities. Such situations or
circumstances could include: being involved in a serious accident, physical
attack, sexual assault or experiencing disasters like hurricane, fire and
tornado. After these experiences occur, the trauma sets in. This is the
after-effect of the incidence. At the point or period in which these incidences
take place, the individual goes through it with shock (in most cases). It is
now after the incidence or situation must have passed that they start to feel
the impact or effect (after-effect). For instance when one is being pursued and
is being shot at, a hormone known as adrenalin which is also known as the
flight or fight hormone is triggered, Thereby causing the individual to run as
fast as possible away from the pursuers that are shooting at him/her. Now at
this point of running, the individual may encounter obstacles of which he/she
would normally find impossible to overcome, but due to the situation, he/she
would overcome it and may also encore injury in the process but will not feel
it at that moment. When the chase is over and the individual finds
himself/herself in a safe place or environment, he/she begins to feel the
effects of the incidence because at that point the adrenalin has come down and
the nervous system is fully back online. At this point he/she starts to feel
the pain of the injury encored.
The above is a typical example of how traumatic experiences
take place. The trauma therefore sets in after the occurrence of the incidence.
The traumatic experience may last a very short while and stop, depending on the
depth of the impact on the roots of the individual’s emotions. If the problem
happens to be severe and the survivor does not get help for them, they can
begin to cause problems for the individuals around them such as family and
friends. It should be known that individuals faced with such severe cases
cannot help themselves and therefore need help from those around them. And this
help can be offered rightly to yield the proper result when not just the victim
but those around him/her get proper counseling on what to do. It is in severe
cases like this that the individual is said to have Post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).
It is asserted that most of these traumatic experiences lead
to phobias. For instance an individual that was driving and experiences a
serious auto accident tends to have fear (phobia) for automobiles over time, if
not properly taken care of.
Most individuals involved in traumatic experiences have
troubles understanding what is happening to them as such they may think they
are going crazy. Some of them get fixated the experience and talk about it a
lot thereby reliving the moment many times over. Others tend to experience
mental reoccurrence and physical sensations that triggers the trauma. The
reaction to a particular traumatic experience differs as a result of individual
differences and ability to handle stress. As a result, the victims of these
traumas turn to drugs or alcohol in trying to proffer solutions or help
themselves. Some other victims may result to being withdrawn from family and
friends who don’t seem to understand.
Victims of traumatic situations are to be made aware that:
such situation can happen to anybody and that no one can completely protect
himself/herself from traumatic experiences. Also its only a little percentage
of victims of trauma that have PTSD at some time in their lives. Reaction to
trauma as a result of symptoms and problems does not imply that the victim is
crazy.
Most individuals who have traumatic experience tend to
express symptoms of aggression, anxiety or fear, insomnia, bad dreams and
nightmares, flashbacks e.t.c.
In the bid to solve this problems caused by the traumatic
experience, proper counseling is required both for the victim and the family
and friends on what to do and what not to do in other to help the victim out of
the situation.
