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Coping with a traumatic event

Common reactions during or just after the event may include:

  • Intense fear
  • Helpless
  • Horrified
  • Numb
  • That you are in a daze
  • Detached 'It's like I'm here but not here'
  • You can't recall all that happened

How common is it?

Anyone that has been involved in a traumatic event can suffer from problems afterwards. Both men and women are affected and it doesn't matter what kind of person you are. For some people, the problems will go away quite quickly. Others might find it harder to cope for some time.

What causes it?

The most important thing to bear in mind about these reactions is that they are normal. You are designed to act and feel the way you do. This is due to:

Fight / flight

This is the part of our bodies that helps protect us from danger. Now that something bad has happened to you, your Fight/Flight system is switched on. Part of your brain is saying 'I must protect myself in case it happens again'. So it is keeping you on red alert in case it does happen again no matter how unlikely this is.

What keeps the problem going?

In the first few days after a trauma, Fight / Flight often causes problems in four areas:

  • Problems shutting out the trauma
  • Avoidance
  • Feeling numb
  • Feeling uptight

Problems shutting out the trauma

After an event like this, your mind tries to make sense of it:

  • You might find thoughts of what happened to you coming into your mind no matter how hard you try to stop them.
  • They might appear for no reason. They might be triggered by seeing something that reminds you of what happened, e.g. watching 'the Bill' if you were attacked.
  • Some people have 'flashbacks'. This is when you feel that you are back in the middle of the event as if it is happening.
  • You might find yourself thinking 'could I have handled it better? What if I had did this instead of that?...and so on.
  • You might have nightmares about the event. You might dread going to sleep in case you have these dreams.

Avoidance

  • You might avoid going back to the place where it happened or places like it. So if you were in a car crash, you avoid driving. If you were attacked by a drunk outside a pub, you avoid going anywhere where you think you will meet drunks.
  • You may not want to talk about what happened as you think this will lead you to feel upset.
  • You might find it hard to recall exactly what happened
  • You may try not to think about what happened. You may try to distract your mind when these thoughts come into your head.

Feeling numb

  • You may lose interest in the things you used to like, e.g. the football, your job, sex life.
  • You feel cut off from those close to you
  • You might see your future as more bleak than before
  • You may feel depressed

Feeling uptight

  • You may find it hard to relax. You might find that, at the times when you should relax, thoughts of the event come into your mind. So you may try to keep yourself on the go all the time to stop this.
  • You might feel on edge all the time if the phone rings, you jump through the roof.
  • You may worry a lot more. You will fear that something else might happen to you. Even though you might feel you are making too much of this, you will find it hard to stop doing so.
  • You may lose your temper a lot more.

  • You might find it hard to concentrate on the TV or a book. You might feel your memory is poor.
  • You might have a lot of symptoms of stress: heart rate quickens, breathe more quickly, tense muscles, headaches.
  • You might have problems falling or staying asleep. So you feel you are going about like a half-shut knife during the day.
  • You might find yourself scanning for danger all the time. If you were in a car crash, you might find yourself (as a passenger) telling the driver to watch for this and watch for that. If you were attacked, you might focus on, e.g. groups of boys you fear might get you.
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