Sometimes, traumatic experiences can trigger underlying and pre-existing mental health issues or the experiences can amplify other underlying issues. For example, if you struggled with alcohol addiction prior to a traumatic event, your addiction may spiral out of control following trauma. Where prior to the event, you may have had a low-key issue with alcohol kept under wraps, now the issue is much more extreme and difficult to hide.
Similarly, underlying mental health issues can be exposed following traumatic experiences. You may have low-level–but manageable–feelings of depression that have now taken over as you struggle to cope with your trauma. You may have been able to recover from some of these other issues and addictions; however, a recent traumatic event, or memories of past trauma, are pushing you to the breaking point of needing to find new ways to cope.
Trauma can act as an igniting agent, much like a spark setting a fire to a pile of dry paper. The dry paper always had the potential of catching fire; however, the paper was not exposed to any danger. The conditions to catch fire were always there and once exposed to a single spark, the fire would grow rather quickly. Trauma can act like this for many people.
Perhaps, a person experienced social anxiety that they were able to brush off as shyness, and following a traumatic event, they can scarcely leave their home for a second without feeling washed in fear. In order to recover fully from a traumatic experience, you need to also cope with the underlying issues exposed by the trauma. In the end, however, you will become a more well-rounded and stronger person for having healed from your trauma!
Have you recently experienced a traumatic event? Are you now recovering from a lifetime of traumatic experiences and finding it difficult to cope? Has one bad event triggered a series of negative coping strategies that are now causing more problems than they were intended to solve? Many of us recovering from trauma have found that other issues came up during the healing process. Some of us have had addiction struggles that are now much worse. Others have had depression and anxiety, which now feels out-of-control due to our traumatic experiences. You are not alone in this struggle! Call The Guest House today at (855) 483-7800 to connect with others in a safe and healing environment! Learn new ways to manage your underlying problems and how to cope with trauma today!