Resources Help People Develop Tools to Recover from Significantly Stressful Events
Every day, we watch news of tragedy and loss impacting people of all ages, almost in real time. These tragedies remind us all too clearly that bad things can happen, and the unvarnished truth is most people will experience some kind of trauma at least once in their lives. But it’s also empowering to know there are tools for coping if it happens.
What is trauma? Trauma is any significant event that has a lasting impact and interferes with day-to-day functioning. It could be a car accident, job loss, witnessing violence, or having a stressor over an extended period of time, such as working at a stressful job, caregiving or experiencing an illness. The resulting anxiety can have a negative impact on our lives.
Anxiety can be an excessive fear of something – that includes phobias, like being afraid of open spaces or spiders. Generalized anxiety is excessive worry, such as worrying that something bad is going to happen at work or in public, or that you’ll do something wrong in a social situation.
You might be genetically predisposed to developing anxiety, which can be triggered by a traumatic event. It can also be learned, such as growing up in a ‘worrying household.’ If you had a parent who was a worrier, you have a greater chance of being one, too.
After a significant or long-term stressful event, you might feel physical symptoms that signal anxiety, such as panic attacks, which can include an accelerated heart rate, sweating, or trembling. You could be restless, have trouble concentrating or have difficulty sleeping. If you experience any of these feelings, remember that anxiety is very common, and there are ways to cope with it.
In fact, positive changes can come following a trauma or a stressful event – what we call post-traumatic growth. That might include an increased ability to cope with the stress and adversity, such as recognizing the situations that make you anxious and having ways to prepare for them. Or you might develop ways to increase self-care after a stressful situation, such as adding exercise, meditation or music.
It’s not always easy for everyone to get there, but strong social support resources are available for people who experience trauma and the resulting anxiety. Working with people who understand your situation and provide a save environment for healing can make all the difference.
One of those resources is NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Fox Valley, 211 E. Franklin St. Appleton, 920.954.1550. The organization offers mental health support for people of all ages and families. Friendship Place, 220 N. Commercial St., Neenah, 920.729.9975, offers support and therapy groups. Talking to your primary care physician or contacting ThedaCare Behavioral Health can help. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a great method to help you challenge automatic thoughts that exacerbate anxiety, and it can help you strengthen your skills to cope with trauma. Additionally, consider community involvement or volunteering – when you’re helping other people, you can take the focus off yourself for a little while.
If you’ve experienced a trauma, understand that there’s hope. It’s possible to heal from an event or a loss that’s had a negative impact on your life, and to build the tools you need to transform the anxiety into positive action.
Catherine Langdon is a licensed professional counselor at ThedaCare Behavioral Health in Menasha. Her special interests include anger management, anxiety, trauma-informed care, multicultural counseling, and counseling transgendered individuals. She serves on the central intake team and runs an anger management skills group, as well as maintaining her individual counseling caseload.
