The many traumas we experience are as varied and unique as we are and can range along a broad spectrum, including but not limited to abuse, loss, separation, violence and abandonment. How we respond to our trauma can also vary greatly, relative to who we are as individuals and how we relate to our pain. Many of us suppress our difficult feelings, attempting to avoid and deny them as much as possible. Silence becomes our default coping mechanism. Others of us may feel our pain acutely and transfer it onto other things and people, including ourselves, lashing out at loved ones or harming ourselves. The symptoms we feel often have a lot to do with how we process our pain, whether we confront it head on or bury and suppress it.
For many of us, our trauma was so intense and so severe that we experienced a great deal of shock along with it. That shock can stay with us, causing us symptoms of severe anxiety and panic. We might experience racing thoughts along with accelerated breathing and heartrates. Our panic attacks can cause us physical pain and discomfort. Our shock can also make us feel numb and out of sorts. We can feel restless and uneasy. We can feel paranoid and constantly on the alert. We might assume something bad will happen to us again, and we can feel unable to relax as a result.
Our trauma can also leave us reeling, confused and disoriented. We struggle to make sense of what has happened to us. We can feel easily overwhelmed and stressed out. We often don’t feel like our normal selves. We can feel disconnected from ourselves, like we’ll never get back to normal. We can feel hopeless and defeated. We can experience deep bouts of depression that stay with us for months or even years. Many of us also fall into patterns of isolating ourselves and cutting other people off, which can increase our feelings of depression, paranoia and uneasiness.
After being traumatized, we can find our sleep patterns and eating habits drastically altered. We might start sleeping more to avoid the pain we feel when we’re awake. We might experience insomnia and other sleep difficulties, our minds unable to relax when it’s time to go to sleep. We might overeat from anxiety, or feel so depressed we stop eating altogether.
Learning about the many symptoms of our trauma can help us to identify how our trauma has affected us. This is an important step in working to address it and heal from it.
At The Guest House Ocala, we are uniquely equipped to help our guests heal from trauma-induced substance abuse, process addiction, anxiety and depression in a safe, comfortable and confidential setting. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information on our treatment programs.