Effects of Trauma

The events of September 11, 2001, in both New York and Washington, D.C., were horrifying and traumatic. When an event like this happens, many people begin to feel things that are unfamiliar to them. And because some people think they are “going crazy” (from their feelings), they don’t talk about it. BUT these people are not alone. The feelings and thoughts that people have after either witnessing or hearing of a traumatic event are completely normal.

The following information is intended to give you some information on common reactions to trauma. Each of the following points are reactions to traumatic stress, which is simply the stress that someone feels after a trauma. (There may be other reactions as well, this list is by no means exhaustive!).

Some of the first things that many people feel when a trauma or disaster happens are:

• shock: (What? How?)

• denial: (I don’t believe it. You must be wrong. No way!)

• confusion: (What do you mean? I don’t understand.)

• numbness: (Not feeling, or feeling numb)

• dissociation: (It happened there, not here, we’re fine, nothing to worry about)

Some other things you may be feeling:

• Your moods can become unpredictable. One minute you’re happy, the next minute you’re irritable.

• Some people feel anxious or nervous (e.g. fidgety, can’t sit still, pacing, can’t sleep) or even depressed.

• You can’t get the pictures of what happened out of your head. These are called flashbacks and they can happen anytime, anywhere…sometimes we don’t even know what causes, or triggers, them. These flashbacks can make you feel physical symptoms, such as a racing or pounding heart or sweaty hands.

• You may find it hard to make decisions or concentrate on even relatively simple things. You may become confused more easily, for example when you’re learning a new math equation in school.

• Some things can make you think of the trauma by triggering your memories. For example, the anniversary dates of the event, the sound of sirens (e.g. ambulance/fire/police), a smell that you associate with the event (e.g. smoke, a certain cologne or perfume). Sometimes the trigger doesn’t even seem to make sense to us, but our body sometimes remembers things that our minds don’t.

You may find that you are arguing more with the people you live with and care about or, on the other hand, maybe you are finding yourself withdrawing from those around you, preferring to be alone. Physical symptoms can include: headaches, nausea, chest-pain, worsening of previous medical conditions.

Things you can do to help yourself and others:

• Be patient with yourself. It takes time to heal, but before you can heal you may need to mourn or grieve what you’ve lost.

• Talk to others. A supportive group of people around you will remind you that you’re not alone.

• Communicate your experiences either by talking or by writing in a journal, whatever you feel comfortable with.

• Find out if there are any support groups in your community.

• Find out if there will be any formal type of debriefing in your community.

• Try to keep a daily routine (e.g. eating, sleeping, exercising).

• Do not make any major life decisions at this time. (e.g. quitting school, changing careers, starting or ending significant relationships).

• Become informed. Just by reading this information, you are giving yourself the power to be able to help yourself and those around you.

When should I seek professional help?

• If you continue to have problems functioning day to day (e.g. persistent feelings of sadness, not sleeping, not eating, hyper-alertness).

• Feeling pre-occupied with the event (i.e. can’t think of anything else).

• Continued withdrawal from friends and loved ones.

• Uncontrolled emotional outbursts (e.g. more aggressive, increased fighting).

Some helpful links:

http://www.cpa.ca/contents.html
http://helping.apa.org/daily/traumaticstress.html
http://helping.apa.org/daily/tassey.html
http://helping.apa.org/daily/terrorism.html
http://www.apa.org/practice/ptguidelines.html
http://www.apa.org/practice/ptsd.html