All about Trauma

Symptoms of trauma: all information and solutions

Trauma symptoms

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Introduction to trauma symptoms

People can go through a traumatic experience. If this happens, it will take some time to process it. For most people, after processing, they pick up their lives again and move on. Of course, the traumatic experience is not forgotten and it can be difficult to think back to it, but it does not affect daily life. This is different, if you continue to suffer from a traumatic experience and this also hinders you in your daily life. In this case it is wise to seek professional help.

What is trauma?

A trauma is a shocking and often life-changing event that is repeatedly remembered and causes relapses, flashbacks and nightmares. Normally, far-reaching events are given a place in the memory. After a while, the event can be looked back on with less emotion. If someone suffers from a trauma, the event does not have a place. This can have major consequences and a considerable impact on the life of that person. The trauma can give rise to all sorts of other fears or to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the latter case, people try at all costs to avoid any confrontation with the trauma. Usually you suffer from a trauma, if the traumatic experience, one month after the event, still plays a major or leading role in daily life.

What types of trauma are there?

Not every trauma is the same. There are two types of traumas, namely single and complex traumas. This has to do with how often you have experienced a traumatic event and its consequences.

Single trauma

Single traumas involve a traumatic event that happened once. This can be for example an accident, sexual assault, rape or robbery. By the way, it does not have to be that you are a victim of this, you can already suffer a trauma if you are a witness to this. Although it was only a one-off event, you have not been able to come to terms with it and the event continues to play in your mind like a film.

Complex trauma

Complex traumas involve several unpleasant events in a certain period of time. Often it is a repetition of the traumatic event, such as frequent sexual abuse, repeated physical violence or constant bullying. Often, this trauma is called a complex trauma, because of the complex consequences, such as a negative self-image, distrust, difficulty with emotions and psychologically very unstable.

What are the symptoms of trauma?

The symptoms of a trauma can be very diverse. It is not always the case that only one type of symptom is present, but several symptoms may occur simultaneously. That is why it is important to start working on processing the trauma. Once the trauma is dealt with, the symptoms will also disappear.

Stress due to trauma

Constantly in stress and tension is a well-known consequence of trauma. If a traumatic event continues to recur, even long after the event has taken place, then you have probably developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Characteristic of PTSD is that all kinds of stimuli from your environment make you think of the trauma again and again. That is why PTSD has such a serious impact on your daily life, but also on the life of close family members. You will try to avoid these stimuli. This can be a certain situation, a location or people and then you end up in social isolation.

Anxiety caused by trauma

As a result of trauma, anxiety disorders and phobias can arise spontaneously. This can also have a major impact on daily life. If you have experienced something bad in a public place, you may develop agoraphobia. This makes you afraid to visit a supermarket, the market or any public place where people come. It seems as if you have a certain fear You have a fear of something, but the cause is the trauma. To avoid the thought of the trauma, this is projected onto a particular fear or phobia.

Reliving trauma

A common consequence of trauma is the reliving the traumatic event . When reliving them, the images come back to the retina again and again. This can happen at certain stimuli during the day, but also at night when you are at rest. Because you do not want to relive the trauma, all kinds of other complaints may arise, from anxiety disorders to avoidance behaviour.

Nightmares due to trauma

People with a trauma often have sleeping problems. This is not surprising, because at night you are not distracted by daily worries. During your sleep, the trauma will often come back in the form of nightmares . If you sleep badly at night, you are also overtired during the day and you do not function well.

Avoidance behaviour due to trauma

One of the most important characteristics of trauma is avoidance behaviour. This is about avoiding a certain situation, a location or certain people, because then you are reminded of the trauma. Avoidance behaviour is also seen in fears and phobias. Avoidance behaviour can ultimately lead to social isolation and worsen the symptoms.

Isolation through trauma

Partly as a result of avoidance behaviour, isolation can arise from a trauma. Instead of confronting the trauma, you start avoiding situations and as a result you end up in isolation. If this is the case, it is difficult to get out of it without professional help.

Losing grip through trauma

People like to keep control over their lives. If you have been affected by a trauma, you may feel that you are losing control. Losing grip through trauma is difficult. Because to regain control, you must first recognise that you have lost your grip on life.

Negative thoughts due to trauma

Negative thoughts due to trauma can have a great impact on a person's life. Everyone can experience negative thoughts but it is not normal to have this all the time. This leads to a negative spiral and possibly depression. A severe depression can make it impossible to enjoy life and can even lead to suicidal thoughts.

Restless feeling caused by trauma

A agitated or restless feeling everyone has at some time or another. This is a temporary moment of stress and/or tension, but usually passes. Because of a trauma, you can also have a constantly agitated feeling. This is very annoying and can cause all sorts of (physical) complaints. It is important to remove the cause, so that you can relax again.

Poor concentration due to trauma

It goes without saying that if you are constantly confronted with a traumatic experience, this will have an impact on the concentration . A lack of concentration, for example, can affect your work and can even be life-threatening if you do dangerous work. First you have to get rid of the trauma or at least have given the event a place, before you can think clearly again.

Dizziness due to trauma

Dizziness, also known as vertigo, often involves moments of light-headedness, spinning around, or the sensation of fainting. In many cases there appears to be a medical cause, but an unresolved trauma can also cause the physical reaction of the dizziness. dizziness entail.

Anger outbursts due to trauma

People who walk around with an unresolved trauma will usually have a shorter fuse. Outbursts of anger are common among traumatised people. It is a form of not having control over one's emotions, so that one can only burst into anger. Sometimes this happens without there being a reason to become angry.

Which trauma therapy is appropriate?

The best trauma treatment is EMDR. EMDR means Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. How EMDR exactly works in the brain has not yet been scientifically described. On the fact that EMDR works, thick scientific reports have been written already. EMDR can even be seen as one of the best trauma therapies.

How does EMDR trauma therapy work?

In EMDR trauma therapy, the client is asked to recall the traumatic moment. Also feelings and thoughts of that moment are retrieved. That is why EMDR can also be a confrontational therapy. But at the moment the trauma is recalled, you are distracted. This can be done by a hand gesture by the therapist or you get headphones on and you are distracted by a sound signals. The working memory gets overloaded by the distraction and in one way or another it becomes easier to park the trauma and to recall it with less emotion. This gives the trauma a place in the memory and other complaints related to the trauma will disappear.

Psylaris makes EMDR therapy easier

Psylaris is the developer of modern tools in the mental healthcare sector. One of the most promising new techniques Psylaris is working on is virtual reality. Virtual reality is very suitable for EMDR. The client wears VR glasses and is then literally immersed in a distraction chosen by the practitioner. Moreover, an EMDR treatment can also take place at home, if VR glasses are available. This increases the frequency of the number of treatments and therefore a faster recovery is possible.

With EMDR-Remote, Psylaris has developed an EMDR method from a distance. EMDR-Remote is an online platform, where the practitioner has the possibility to treat the client via online calling. Many distraction tasks are available and the platform makes it more accessible for the client to start with EMDR. Especially patients who no longer dare to leave their home because of their trauma, are treated in their own familiar surroundings.

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