Dealing with trauma might feel like fighting an uphill battle. It’s a never-ending struggle. There can be many causes of trauma, like the death of a loved one, abuse of any kind, terrorist attack, plane crash, accident, disaster, or anything else. Every trauma comes with different responses and a big rush of emotions. Some may feel intense shock, confusion, or fear; some may feel numb and overwhelmed with so many conflicting emotions, and sometimes all emotions happen at once. Traumatic stress can be dealt with in many ways, depending on person to person. Some find negative coping strategies to deal with their PTSD, like limitless alcohol, drugs, smoking, etc. No doubt, it gets you high and offers a few moments of happiness, but remember, it doesn’t last long. In the long run, they only promote dependency and addiction. You will end up ruining everything and be stuck in your trauma forever. Therefore to help you prevent that, we have made a list of some effective coping mechanisms to deal with your trauma easily.
What Are Some Of The Efficient Coping Strategies To Get Over Your Trauma?
Traumas can turn into something disastrous if it is not dealt with in the early stages. It’s definitely not easy coping with trauma. Many people give up and move to self-harm or suicide, which is hurtful. However, one should know that no trauma is bigger than their own self, and one can fight it no matter how impactful it is.
Trauma symptoms include intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, negative thoughts, impaired memory, and a heightened startle response. Luckily, there are many healthy coping mechanisms to help you cure your PTSD, and they are:
Deep Breathing
As many reputed doctors suggest, breathing plays a vital role in coping with stress. But unfortunately, many people don’t know the right way to breathe correctly. The right and natural way to breathe is through your diaphragm and abdomen. It should be like when you breathe in, your stomach should expand, and when you breathe out, it must release. Unfortunately, most of us don’t follow this breathing technique anymore. Instead, we are more into breathing from the chest and shoulders, causing short and shallow breaths. This further ends with stress and anxiety. Meditation has always been a top coping mechanism for PTSD; even meditation requires deep breathing. So now you know why you should change your breathing patterns and practice simple deep breathing exercises to enhance your pattern and combat anxiety.
Mindfulness
Have you ever heard of the word mindfulness? What do you think it means? Having a presence of mind, right? It is prevalent with people suffering from trauma that they experience a lack of mindfulness during most moments. It is so upsetting. They might be physically present but not mentally and emotionally present, making it really challenging to get out of their anxiety and live their ordinary lives. To solve this, they are asked to practice mindfulness at least once daily to help them get out of their head and live. Mindfulness is the best type of self-reflection that brings your honest thoughts to light and shows you the way out.
Rely On Your Loved Ones
I know this sounds a little off but trust me, it could be the best strategy to overcome your trauma in no time. Your loved ones can support you in your hard time and provide you with the comfort and warmth you need to fight off your trauma. There is no cure better than this. Talking to your loved ones about your experience and feelings can take a massive burden off your heart and give you relief.
Face Your Feelings
If you are avoiding your emotions and thinking you are better off this way, let me tell you, you’re mistaken. This is the most common mistake people with trauma make; they isolate themselves from everybody and do everything they can to avoid their emotions and feelings. This avoiding method won’t do you any good but will push you more into that muddle. The healthy way to deal with your stress and help you heal is by facing your feelings. Avoidance is expected but not healthy, so you better learn to face it. Escaping might seem easy to you now, but it isn’t beneficial in the long run and further causes emotional unavailability in the person and creates differences with your loved ones. So you should start to feel your emotions and deal with them healthily.
Prioritize Self Care
The most efficient method to fight off your trauma is by prioritizing self-care. When one takes good care of their mind and body, it functions and responds more healthily than usual, providing them with sufficient emotional strength to cope with their trauma. Self-care can be done in various ways like eating well, regular physical activity, getting a good night’s sleep, and trying different hobbies like art, music, meditation, relaxation, etc. Doing whatever you make happy is the best definition of self-care. When you are happy, everything around you feels good and enhances your mood.
Conclusion:
Trauma brings a lot of struggle with itself. It can contribute to anxiety and many other severe symptoms like depression, etc. No matter how big or small the degree of trauma, every person’s struggle is the same. Everyone should be aware of their emotions and know how to deal with them straightforwardly. There are many coping strategies for PTSD which are healthy and can help you heal in the long run. Techniques like self-care, mindfulness, deep breathing, etc., are best for PTSD. These approaches are great to help with your trauma but make sure you are doing them right. Also, if you are unsure whether you have trauma, remember to visit She Builds…According To Her Faith as soon as possible.
Reference:
Healthline media uk ltd, M.A.R.I.A. .C.O.H.U.T.,. .P.H.D. (2017, 20 October ). Five ways to cope with PTSD. [Weblog]. Retrieved 27 December 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319824
