Effects of Traumatic Incidents
Trauma is any type of distressing event or experience that can have an impact on a person's ability to cope and function. Many people will experience some kind of traumatic event at some point in their lifetime, and everyone's response to a traumatic event is different.
A traumatic event threatens the life, health, or safety of the person experiencing or witnessing it. Traumatic events are so powerful because they disrupt our sense of the way the world is supposed to work--they cut against our assumptions of safety and balance.
Events can be traumatic when they are experienced directly, such as a car accident, a sexual assault, or the unexpected death of a loved one. They can also be indirect, such as witnessing a terrible accident, watching a natural or man-made disaster unfold, or being close to someone who experiences an assault. Every person will be affected differently by violence, tragedy, or accidents--we all have a different threshold for what is a traumatic event.
- Emotional Effects
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- Anger and blame
- Shock and denial
- Numbness
- Self-blame/guilt for "allowing" the crime to happen
- Hyper-vigilant
- Hypersensitivity to environment
- Intensified emotions such as anger, fear, sadness, embarrassment, and shame
- Mood swings
- Physical Effects
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- Injury
- Illness
- GI distress and nausea
- Body aches
- Headaches
- Difficulty concentrating or remembering
- Changes in sleep and eating habits
- Inability to feel focused or balanced
- Mental Health Effects
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- Feeling that these reactions are a sign of weakness
- Post-traumatic stress reactions
- Anxiety or depression
- Increase in risky behaviors, such as alcohol, drug use, or self-injury
- Intrusive thoughts, such as flashbacks or nightmares
- Relational Effects
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- Sense of vulnerability
- Difficulty trusting
- Inability to recognize danger
- Isolation, withdrawal
- Change in normal social activity and daily routine
- Difficulty with intimate and sexual relationships
- Talk to Someone: You don’t have to heal alone. Whether you talk to trusted friends or family, a professional counselor, the Title IX Office, or someone else, reaching out for support is often an essential step to regaining balance and control.
- Be Patient with Yourself: Recovery from trauma doesn’t happen in a set time frame or set of steps. You will probably have good days and bad days, and you might sometimes feel overwhelmed. This is all normal.
- Attend to Your Basic Needs: It may sometimes be difficult to prioritize your basic needs, but this is an essential foundation for healing.
- Try to get enough sleep and eat well.
- Try to move your body with exercise, yoga, or whatever feels good to you.
- Try to maintain social contact with people who make you feel safe and happy.
- Try to Prioritize Fun: The idea of "fun" might seem out of place when talking about the aftermath of sexual assault, but it isn’t and it can really help with the healing process.
- Do things that make you happy and try to get back into routines that have worked for you in the past.
- Ask a friend to help you with this to make it seem more attainable.
If you’ve experienced a traumatic incident, you may react in a variety of ways. Reactions are based on individual coping styles, personality, and external factors such as religion or culture.
- Some people may have immediate emotional reactions, and some may appear more composed.
- Some may immediately disclose to a friend, family member, or authority figure, and some may wait a considerable amount of time before telling anyone.
- Some may seek out and take advantage of support resources, and others may find this unappealing.
- It’s important to know that those impacted are doing what they can to regain stability and take care of themselves, even if that looks very different from the way others may believe they would react.
It’s definitely okay to wait to reach out until you are ready. We encourage you to talk to someone you trust as soon as you can, though, to get support and assistance.