Being re-traumatised

Last week I found myself unexpectedly re-traumatised back to childhood issues, by an encounter that triggered reactions. At first I thought I was OK, but then strong feelings, reactions and thoughts told me that the incident had definitely re-traumatised me. I think that quite often re-traumatisation does creep up on people, as we automatically go into protection/ defence and/or detachment mode to get through the trigger.

These are the things that I have found helpful in beginning to recover:

Give yourself time

I find that reminding myself that it often takes 2 weeks for trauma reactions to ease, helps. The most intense reactions will be in the first week, and I know that they will gradually become less dominant in my life as the days pass. It also is a reminder that I am not going crazy.

Externalise the reactions

It is unhelpful to let thoughts and feelings keep swirling in our heads, as we are allowing ourselves to be easily sucked into whirlpool thoughts. I needed to unburden to a supportive person, but could have used offload writing to get them out of my head, so that I could then process them.

An entry on whirlpool thoughts can be found here:
http://reflectionsofaruralsocialworker.blogspot.com/2015/04/whirlpool-thinking.html

And on offload writing here:
http://reflectionsofaruralsocialworker.blogspot.com/2015/08/offload-writing.html

Do something creative and/or reaffirming

I once listened to an episode of "Conversations" with Richard Fidler, where the lady being interviewed was talking about her experiences with depression, and how she cooked her way out of it. She had not engaged in counselling or drug therapy and this gave me pause for thought.

During the last week I have found that continuing to sew Christmas gifts, process produce from the garden (that I have grown) and engage in creative cooking, have all given me moments of believing in myself again and these have begun to take over from the outbursts of reactions. I think that is is very important to re-find our true selves after being re-traumatised, as trauma turns us into people we are really not, behaving in ways that are not usual for us.

Give to others

This is an excellent way of re-focusing our thoughts and re-connecting with living after being re-traumatised. I like the ideas about 24 days of random acts of kindness in the lead up to Christmas and, although this has not been possible for me this year, I have been more conscious of reaching out to others with a supportive card and note, helping with toys for needy children and engaging in projects that give to others. 

Remember: You have the right to be less than perfect. God made us human, so we're allowed to be human. ("Touched by an Angel" TV Series)