When you have been through a traumatic event in your life, it’s common for you to experience a type of overreaction whenever you have a trigger. Perhaps you can relate to that, but you struggle to realize why there seems to be a connection between the way you feel and the events that have happened in the past.
Understanding Dissociation
The human brain is capable of amazing things, and when dissociation takes place, everything that is related to the trauma – the sounds, sights, smells, emotions and physical sensations – appear to take on a life of their own. They do become scattered and disconnected at times, which is one reason why they’re so difficult to manage. The reason this happens is because it is too much for the person to experience the full reality of what is taking place so in order to make it “easier” on the person, the brain will break the experience apart into many disassociated states.
Understanding Reliving
In many ways, reliving a trauma can and is much more difficult to handle than the original trauma ever was. When you are reliving a traumatic event, that event is replayed over and over again in your mind, and it is as if it happening all over again in some cases. Another reason reliving is worse than the original traumatic event is for the simple fact that traumas occur at a specific point in time. They have a start and they have an end. When you are in a state of reliving or having a flashback, there is often no sensation of a beginning or an end. Reliving can happen at any time.
How are you Coping?
The question that must be asked is how are you coping with your trauma? Perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with PTSD, but you’re so used to self-medicating that you’re not really sure how to answer that question. This is a very common response, so if you find yourself attempting to reorganize your life around anything that might potentially be a trigger, or you find yourself deep in the throes of addiction, please rest assured that you are not alone.
It’s possible that you have even put yourself in some seriously dangerous situations so that you could try to control what was happening around you. This type of response is also common, but none of these responses are places where you need to stay.
Continuing to fight against flashbacks and reliving traumatic events over and over again is one of the reasons people become anxious and depressed. It leaves you feeling mentally and physically exhausted, and you’re not able to completely enjoy all that life has to offer you.
A professional trauma therapist can help you find new, healthy coping mechanisms that are designed to help you heal from the pain that was caused by your trauma. If you would like to talk about getting help and finding the freedom you deserve, please contact me for an appointment.
