Stress and Trauma
Stress is something that arises when we feel threatened by something. When we have too much of it, either all at once, or over a long period of time, we begin living at a higher level of stress on a regular basis. Stress causes all sorts of symptoms and reactions and once our stress 'limit' is reached, we can become overwhelmed and move into trauma reactions. We can become overloaded by lots of stresses over time, or by one, specific trauma event.
Post traumatic stress is a NORMAL reaction to an abnormal event.
Usually, as time passes, we get better and move on with life. However, sometimes we don’t get better and we need professional help to guide us back to a healthy life.
Trauma is different for everyone. One person’s traumatic experience can be very different from someone else’s.
Some common traumatic experiences include:
Childhood or Adult Physical Abuse
Being involved in a war
Car Accident
Torture
Seeing someone else die or get hurt
Having an experience that made you feel you might get badly hurt, or that you might die.
Most people don't have any conscious control over how their nervous system deals with stress. Fortunately, there are ways of working with the nervous system that can help to release the 'charge' that is stored in the body when stress or trauma happen.
If you need support, don't be afraid to ask. You aren't crazy - trauma reactions are NORMAL, they just feel very strange and different to your previous experience.