Living with Trauma
“Trauma has become so commonplace that most people don’t even recognize its presence. It affects everyone. Each of us has had a traumatic experience at some point in our lives, regardless of whether it left us with an obvious case of post-traumatic stress.” ~Peter Levine
What living with trauma can look like:
- Feelings of hopelessness and beliefs that aren’t meant for you
- Constantly finding ways to escape from reality
- Sleeplessness, fatigue, nightmares, sleep disorders
- Avoidance of anything connected to a traumatic event
- Difficulty regulating emotions like anger, fear and sadness
- Reoccurring flashbacks of past events
- Extra sensitivity to physical and emotional pain
- Addiction to alcohol and other substances
- Increased panic and anxiety
Everyone responds to trauma differently, and finding healthy ways to cope and heal from those events and their after-effects is key to living a healthy life. It’s easy to minimize, normalize, and rationalize some of these less severe symptoms, but if healthy coping mechanisms are not developed, they can lead to patterns of self-sabotage and withdrawal from the world and relationships. Like Peter Levine also said ,”Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”
The most courageous thing we can do is love our self during times of pain and struggle.
Being aware of our story, and owning it, requires immense bravery. After all, to be human is to think and feel, and our emotions are here to try and protect us. If we see anxiety and stress as friends and offer them empathy, kindness, and thankfulness, they will be able to relax and dissipate. When you feel them approaching, welcome them, be kind to them, be thankful that they are there, and then invite them to leave. Bringing our minds to the present can reduce stress, anxiety, and connect us to everything around us.