Coping with Trauma

Everyone will respond to a traumatic event in their own unique way. You may find it difficult to come to terms with what has happened or how it may have changed your life.

After a traumatic event it can be helpful to:

  • Understand that it’s normal to have strong reactions. It’s important to give yourself some time to recover.
  • Keep up your daily habits.
  • Try to maintain regular sleeping patterns, healthy eating and exercise, even if you don’t feel up to it.
  • Don’t keep your emotions bottled up – express how you feel by talking to someone, writing about it or finding a creative outlet to share your feelings.
  • Reflect positively on the small things you have done in your journey to pull everything back together.
  • Avoid using drugs or alcohol.
  • Get more comfortable asking for help from family, friends or professionals.

If you are finding it hard to cope with a traumatic event it might be helpful to seek professional support.

Some reasons for seeking professional support may be if you are:

  • Avoiding reminders of the traumatic experience.
  • Noticing that your feelings of distress are not subsiding after a few weeks.
  • Having difficulty functioning normally in day-to-day life or returning to work, feeling on edge and easily startled, strained relationships with friends and family.
  • Reliving the traumatic experience.

Professional support can help you to make sense of what has happened. They can help with moving forward after a traumatic experience.

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