Physical Symptoms Of Trauma: What No One Is Talking About

An Introduction

Do you know a person who has experienced trauma? Have you seen any modifications in their behavior? Unfortunately, the true effects of trauma can often be more severe than what the eye can see. Sadly, a lot of folks don't get the assistance they require. Traumatic experiences that go untreated can result in physical ailments like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sleeplessness, and other mental health problems. ("Traumatic Events: Signs, Symptoms & Management for PTSD | Talkspace," n.d.)

Everyone has a different idea of what trauma is and what might be traumatizing to them. It might be a divorce, emotional abuse, or culture shock for some people. Others may encounter a sudden loss of a loved one, a near-death experience, a violent assault, war, or rape. The bottom line is that an individual perceives trauma as a highly stressful occurrence.

Role of Trauma coaches

Trauma coaches use a very respectful approach to assist clients in accessing the repressed feelings and restrictive thought patterns that still impact their current emotions, attitudes, expectations, and actions. These restrictive habits are frequently derived from earlier events in your life. You can examine and modify these patterns by creating substitute body-mind experiences or symbolic "counter-events," which update your "personal software." Untapped potential is released; as a result, resulting in a more positive outlook on life, more successful interpersonal behavior, a sense of personal fulfillment, and a capacity for trust (Quarmby, Sandford, Green, Hooper, & Avery, 2021). The joy of becoming more attuned to your own and other people's thoughts, feelings, and needs is something that a trauma coach may help you experience. This

increases people's daily lives enjoyment, contentment, meaning, and connectedness.

The Symptoms & Signs

After a stressful experience, signs, and symptoms may appear minutes, days, or weeks later. It can even take years at times. Being easily startled, being on edge and agitated, having trouble concentrating, sleeping a lot, and having nightmares indicate that someone you know may have had a traumatic event (Silver, Kumari, Conklin, & Karakurt, 2018). Physical symptoms include body aches and pains, a beating heart, and tense muscles.

People who have gone through trauma could behave strangely. For example, patients recovering from a traumatic event frequently experience shock, denial, and disbelief. Other signs include mood changes such as extreme sadness or melancholy, impatience, rage, and mood swings. But this is only the very tip of the iceberg.

After a traumatic occurrence, people sometimes feel lost, helpless, nervous, terrified to death, numb, and detached from reality, others, and themselves (Robinson, 2019). Even when they are the ones who are the victims in the circumstance, traumatized people frequently experience guilt, humiliation, and self-blame.

The intensity of the symptoms

Over time, PTSD symptoms may become less severe. You may experience more severe PTSD symptoms when you feel anxious generally or remember the trauma you underwent. For instance, you might hear a car backfire and remember a battle. Alternatively, you can be overtaken with recollections of your assault after seeing a news story about a sexual assault. (López-Martínez et al., 2016)

Final Thoughts

There are legitimate emotional wounds. They cause somatic symptoms, such as heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, and sweating, which are felt uncomfortably or alarmingly at a visceral level in the body. With clients experiencing complicated emotional trauma, reflective therapists who have established self-care routines and have access to peer or professional supervision create co-collaborative self-regulating and anchoring methods to help people overcome traumatic events.

References;

• López-Martínez, A. E., Serrano-Ibáñez, E. R., Ruiz-Párraga, G. T., Gómez-Pérez, L., Ramírez-Maestre, C., & Esteve, R. (2016). Physical Health Consequences of Interpersonal Trauma: A Systematic Review of the Role of Psychological Variables. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 19(3), 305–322. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838016659488

• Quarmby, T., Sandford, R., Green, R., Hooper, O., & Avery, J. (2021). Developing evidence-informed principles for trauma-aware pedagogies in physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2021.1891214

• Robinson, L. (2019, March 21). Emotional and Psychological Trauma. Retrieved from HelpGuide.org website: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/coping-with-emotional-and-psychological-trauma.htm

• Silver, K. E., Kumari, M., Conklin, D., & Karakurt, G. (2018). Trauma and Health Symptoms in a Community Sample: Examining the Influences of Gender and Daily Stress. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 46(2), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2018.1461031

• Traumatic Events: Signs, Symptoms & Management for PTSD | Talkspace. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2022, from Mental Health Conditions website: https://www.talkspace.com/blog/traumatic-events-signs-symptoms-management/