Today, trauma is experienced by many people and it may not be the worst, such as the death of a loved one.
Everyone has their limits elsewhere, and cutting with a knife or firing them can also be a big trauma for someone.
It is too common nowadays for life itself to be traumatic.
Unfortunately, traumatic events can change the structure and function of the human brain.
When you vividly imagine the trauma and you still remember it, you experience it again and again, so your brain reacts differently to common situations.
What it looks like in the brain
When trauma occurs in your brain, an alarm sounds and the brain immediately instructs your body, which responds to a number of physiological and hormonal changes.
Your brain prepares you for what’s going on. He prepares to fight and stops all other processes of the body and mind.
The body is flooded with stress hormones, and studies show that some parts of the brain shut down.
The human nervous system is an electrical system, and when it is overloaded with too much stimulation and too much danger, as in the case of trauma, it only switches to basics.
Like when you feel numb, shock, like you die from the inside.
Your juice will turn off.
Intellectually, you lose 50 to 90 percent of your brain’s capacity, so it’s not a good idea to make decisions in that phase.
You do not feel anything emotionally.
You are spiritually disconnected, you have a spiritual crisis and you are not interested in anything at all, the surrounding events mean nothing to you and life loses meaning.
When the threat subsides, the nervous system kicks again, calms and restores the body.
This process restores the structure of the brain.
Some brains never fully change from reactive (combat mode) to sensitive environment (quiet mode).
The brain can then function:
- Still perceives and identifies threats
- Brain may lose the ability to distinguish the past from the present, leading to memories that seem real
- Reduced regulation of emotions – this leads to greater fear, anxiety and stress responses, even if they are not associated with the original trauma
- Hormones are not right and the nervous system is more active, leading to more fatigue and doing nothing
How to heal the brain
The good news is that we can reverse brain changes.
The mind is so strong that it can reshape and release trauma so that the brain can recover on its own.
Recovery is a gradual process and is performed by various methods.
Something can suit everyone differently when each of us experiences something different.
We need to show emotion. Ignoring your feelings will slow down recovery.
Emotions exist, whether you pay attention to them or not.
Even very strong intense feelings are deeply hidden.
When we get them to the surface, the problems often go away.
Just let yourself feel what you feel.
If we suppress them, sooner or later bang anyway and everything can be many times worse.
So don’t fight what is happening to you, let any emotions and feelings be expressed until they gradually subside and you will be relieved.
How to deal with painful emotions of traumatic stress:
- Take the time to mourn all the losses you have experienced.
- Do not try to force the situation to improve immediately.
- The healing process takes a while, be patient.
- Be prepared for difficult and volatile emotions.
- Let what you feel flow without judgment and guilt.
- Accept the fact that uncomfortable emotions reappear.
Avoid reviving a traumatic event.
Repeatedly negative talking, reminding, thinking or viewing horrible images over and over again can overwhelm your nervous system, which does not bring a clear and calm mind.
Related to this is the minimization of watching the media, where disruptive and negative news is broadcast.
Focus on the little things and ordinary things in life that aren’t so obvious.
You can seek help
A person who experiences trauma and was at the bottom is suitable to lend a helping hand and pull you out of that bottom.
Such a person does not judge you and knows how to help you, because he has been through it himself.
They don’t have to have any schools and exams, just personal experience.
When to seek help
- Six weeks have passed and you are not feeling better
- You have problems working at home and at work
- You experience terrifying memories, nightmares or flashes – fragments
- You still have no desire to associate with others, you avoid people
- You experience suicidal thoughts and bad feelings, depression persists
- You are increasingly avoiding things that remind you of a disaster or traumatic event
You can also try visualization and meditation.
Meditation immediately reduces your tension and relieves stress.
Regular breathing will calm you down even from the biggest panic attacks that can occur.
By meditation, you also achieve a peaceful sleep and who can not sleep, so also falls asleep.
With the visualization, you can move to the places you would like to be, which helps from a bad situation.
Exercises to relieve stress
Sit on a chair, feel your feet on the ground and your back against the chair. Look around and choose six objects that have a red or blue color. This way you allow yourself to feel present, more grounded and in your body. Notice how deeper and calmer your breath is. You can also go out and find a quiet place on the grass to sit and feel supported by the land.
How to get rid of bad memories?
1. Psychotherapy can help identify the trauma you have experienced.
Many do not even realize what their inability to live independently and fully has caused.
Although we see things idyllic, it’s good to look beneath the surface.
2. Sadness and grief require dealing with a parent.
Even if the person who caused the trauma is long dead, it is necessary to talk about it, to discuss serious situations.
Only if we accept that someone has hurt us can we forgive. And prevent old wounds from affecting our current lives.
3. Identify your triggers.
Everyone who lives with trauma knows in which situations he is most vulnerable, when anxiety paralyzes him the most.
Is it in tense, stressful situations? Is it when someone screams?
4. Triggers bring the past to life.
You have a choice – in a stressful situation you can react by freezing or escaping, but also by trying to change your behavior.
5. Good therapy will help you realize your strengths and strengthen them.
Although we have traumatic experiences in our souls, we are not just wounded, helpless creatures, but people endowed with various talents, abilities and talents.
Many people only realize this through treatment.
6. Trauma often co-occurs with other mental disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
Proper diagnosis and medication will bring relief.
If the therapy is well conducted, self-perception can be changed once and for all.
7. The spiritual dimension is important.
We are not just talking about religious faith, but about spirituality as such.
Not only worship, but also a walk can be extremely strengthening.
It is good to think of experiences that can elevate the soul to other realms.
How can you beat trauma
Bubble burst method
Stop for a moment, sit or lie down and just feel your body.
Scan it carefully, inside and out, and look for a place that looks different – it’s tense, it hurts, or it’s under pressure.
But don’t try to drive away the pain or discomfort, do the exact opposite – explore your pain and blocks deeper.
Pain, tension and tingling in the body are surrounded by a solid bubble and they are enclosed in it.
Find exactly where this pain is.
Focus on your painful bubble, take a deep breath.
Sometimes a few strong inhales and exhales are needed before they burst.
The pain disappears and does not return.
In any difficult situation and when we want to work with traumas settled in the body, the strongest helper is the deep breath.
Be aware of the pause between inhaling and exhaling, where there is no movement, space and time.
In this space, banish all thoughts of pain from the mind and perceive only the space where there is peace and tranquility. It’s like a quick soothing injection.
Perhaps the most difficult and at the same time very relieving thing is to accept the fact of what happened.
We are often hampered by the inability to accept what happened and still wonder why me?
We thus remain in bad feelings, especially sadness, and seek explanations.
But don’t look for an answer to this question.
It just had to be that way and we have to move on.
Thinking about it won’t change anything anyway, and it only hurts us more.
Telling your story is healing in itself. Not only you can help someone else, but you will be greatly relieved.
It’s about seeing your light of hope, your why, and believe that everyone has it in life.
