Begin Healing From Emotional Trauma

Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away.

Emotional trauma is everywhere, and so many of us are affected by it.

When we lose someone or something we love, or a stressful event breaks apart our sense of security, we can begin to view our environment and those around us as dangerous. Even if a certain event doesn’t cause us any physical harm, being in a state of fear can still cause us to become traumatized.

Before we get into the 5 steps of healing from emotional trauma, let’s take a quick look at common forms and symptoms that often accompany it.

Common types of emotional trauma:

Divorce or relationship breakup
Loss of health
Losing a job
Loss of financial stability
Miscarriage
Retirement
Death of a pet
Loss of a cherished dream
A loved one’s serious illness
Loss of a friendship
Loss of safety after a trauma
Selling the family home

As a result of emotional trauma, we begin to feel numb, disconnected and lose our trust in others. It can take a lot of time for this pain to go away, and for us to feel safe again. If the trauma we’ve experienced is psychological, we may suffer from troubling memories, anxiety and emotions.

Trauma causes a shock to our minds, bodies and souls, which can lead to emotional problems in the future. There are cognitive, behavioural, physical, and psychological reactions to emotional trauma.

Here are some of the most common emotional responses:

Increased arousal
Post traumatic stress disorder
Avoidance of social settings, friends, loved ones
Feelings of anger or irritability, re activeness
Sense of guilt and shame
Grief and depression
Self-image and views of the world become more cynical
Sexual relationships suffer
Drug and alcohol abuse

The emotional responses listed above can make us feel as though we’re going crazy or “losing it”. Have you ever noticed that, following a traumatic event, your physical health begins to show symptoms?

Whether the trauma caused direct physical harm, or the heavy energy of pain and negative emotion wore you down, both circumstances are accompanied by deep emotional pain which can make you ill. Insomnia, nightmares, chronic fatigue, difficulty concentrating, panic attacks, edginess, agitation, muscle tension and a rapid heartbeat are all physical symptoms of emotional stress.

Untreated emotional trauma also has serious side effects.

If unaddressed and left untreated, emotional trauma can result in:

Self-destructive and impulsive behaviours
Uncontrollable reactive thoughts
Feelings of shame, guilt, hopelessness, or despair
Loss of former belief systems
Compulsive behavioural problems
Substance use challenges
Sexual problems
Inability to maintain close relationships or maintain appropriate friendships
Hostility and argumentativeness
Introversion
Feelings of being threatened

When we experience emotional trauma, oftentimes, we’re told to focus on ourselves— but that can be much easier said than done. When it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, it’s challenging to even find the strength to lift your leg, and begin putting one foot in front of the other. In fact, finding strength to heal from emotional trauma can be utterly exhausting and debilitating at times – however, it’s one of the most important things you can do for your well-being.