Understanding, then recognising then knowing how it impacts you – Trauma leaves a mark – how big and impactful that mark depends on how you understand your trauma and manage your trauma. (see part one and part two)
What Impact does Trauma have on your life, especially childhood trauma?
A brain that has adapted to survive in a threatening or unpredictable world may not work so well in an ordinary environment. Latent vulnerabilities can develop and put children at greater risk of experience mental health problems, like anxiety and depression, in the future.
For these children, common experiences like moving to a new school, joining a new sports team or making new friends can feel more daunting and stressful. It is harder to deal with everyday challenges when you feel unconfident and anxious inside and harder to build and maintain relationships.
Social thinning can occur because the child loses connections with friends and other adults that potentially could help them grow and develop. This can increase the risk of mental health problems in the future.
When children face abuse and neglect, their brain adapts to help them cope. The impact of this adaptation happens in the threat, reward and memory systems. Children become hypervigilant, which is a pattern of adaptation, not a sign of damage. Some normal interactions are perceived and threatening. Over time, the brains reward systems learn to respond differently to positive social cues. The impact on the memory systems is that negative memories become more enhanced and prominent and everyday memories become less detailed. This is problematic because we draw on our past experiences to help us deal with new social situations.
Three key differences in the brain of someone who is suffering with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- Threat system is enhanced – Traumatised people see danger where other people see manageable situations
- Your filtering system that helps you to distinguish what is relevant right now and what you can dismiss becomes messed up. This makes it hard to focus on what is going on in the present because you cannot ignore all the irrelevant things going on around you. It becomes difficult to fully engage in ordinary situations
- The self-sensing system – your experience of yourself becomes blunt. You disconnect. Some people will use substances to dampen with system or find other ways to dampen this. It disconnects you from the pleasures in life too.
How can you manage and deal with your Trauma?
Trauma informed care is a new approach to dealing with individuals who have experienced trauma. This approach is guided by four principles
- Realisation about trauma and the impact it has on people and groups – take a step back and see behaviour we find challenging in a different light. A child or adult can be doing their best to survive now with brain adaptations from the past.
- Recognise the signs of trauma
- Work systematically to respond to the trauma
- Avoid re-traumatising
Practical tips to manage Trauma:
- Acknowledge the trauma experienced
- Connect with others – including people you may have share the same traumatic event as you or similar traumas. Build and maintain trusted relationships. Establish good boundaries and consequences
- Manage every day stressors
- Prevent new traumas from happening
- Encourage people to try again and believe that things can be different
- Exercise – it is important to work out the excess cortisol and adrenaline.
- Practice relaxation techniques – Yoga, massage, pray, meditation,
- Maintain a balanced diet and sleep cycle
- Avoid over using stimulants or relying on substances to alleviate your emotional distress
- Talk to a professional – talk and cognitive therapy is effective. Mediation with therapy is an option depending on what you psychologist or psychiatrist advises.
This will take time and need commitment and perseverance.
Your goals. In reach. Together
Coaching does not only help you get on track, but also can assist with any changes you want to see, course correction you need to make and new ideas you want to launch. Connect with a coach today and make it happen!
contact us on 060.656.1305 | info@peopledynamics.co.za for top quality coaching and support.
People Dynamics – business coaching, life coaching , training through coaching, entrepreneurship support.
