6 Ways To Reduce Overwhelm From Trauma
Trauma can be incredibly overwhelming, especially if it’s something that you’re not used to dealing with. It can feel like everything is happening at once and you’re just trying to keep your head above water. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to deal with it alone. There are plenty of resources available to help you through this difficult time.
Feeling overwhelmed from trauma can happen when the trauma is too much to process or when we try to push down our feelings about the trauma. The mind and body can become overloaded and this can lead to physical and emotional symptoms. Some people may feel like they are in a fog, have trouble concentrating, or feel jumpy and on edge. Others may have trouble sleeping, startle easily, or have flashbacks of the event. If you are feeling overwhelmed, it is important to seek help from a therapist or counselor who can help you process your trauma.
We all have experienced some form of trauma in our lives. Whether it was a car accident, a bad break-up, or something more serious, trauma can leave us feeling scared, alone, and helpless. We all know that feeling when we’re stuck in a rut, reliving our trauma over and over again. It’s like our brain is on a never-ending loop and we can’t seem to get off of it. But it doesn’t have to be this way! In this article, we’ll explore five ways to break the cycle of trauma and start living a healthier, happier life.
- Seek professional help.
If you’re struggling to cope with trauma on your own, it’s important to seek professional help. A therapist, counsellor, somatic therapist, internal family systems therapist, EMDR specialist, or a rapid transformation therapist can provide you with the tools and support you need to work through your trauma and start to heal.
- Connect with others who have been through similar experiences.
There is power in numbers! When you connect with others who have been through similar experiences, you can share your story and feel less alone. This can be an incredibly healing experience.
- Get involved in activism or volunteer work.
Sometimes the best way to heal old wounds is to help others who are currently going through similar experiences. Getting involved in activism or volunteer work can be a great way to do this. Not only will you be helping others, but you’ll also be creating meaning for yourself.
- Practice Self-care.
It’s important to take care of yourself both physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally when you’re working through trauma. Make sure to eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, get out in nature, and find time for activities that make you happy. This will help your body and mind to start to rewire itself out of the sympathetic nervous system response of fight, flight, freeze, into the parasympathetic or rest and digest which can help you to start to heal from the trauma you have experienced.
5. Transformational Breathwork
A trauma focussed transformational breathwork journey can help you to safely release trauma held within the body. When this is done properly, in a safe and supportive environment the results can be truly liberating. Having suffered many big T and little t traumas in my own life I spent most of my life in a dissociative state. My first transformational breathwork journey brought me back into my body for the first time in 57 years.
I was so impressed with the speed and depth of the release of trauma from my body I subsequently trained in the modality, which I now offer alongside positive psychology, mindfulness, stress reduction and emotional freedom techniques to help trauma survivors to thrive.
- Write it out
Writing about what happened can be therapeutic and help you to make sense of your thoughts and feelings. It can also be a way to release some of the pain you’re holding onto.
How to Know if You are still Holding onto Old Trauma
If you’re not sure whether or not you’re holding onto old trauma, there are a few things to look out for.
First, ask yourself if you’re constantly reliving past traumas in your mind. If you find yourself reliving the same events over and over again, it’s a potential sign that you’re still holding onto the trauma.
Second, pay attention to your emotions. If you’re constantly feeling anxious, depressed, or angry, it could be a sign that you are still struggling to cope with what happened. We always say “if it’s hysterical it’s historical”, meaning if you have a very strong immediate response to something that may be quite minor, then the likelihood is it is a trauma response today to something that happened a long time ago.
Third, take notice of your physical health. If you’re constantly exhausted or have trouble sleeping, it could be a result of the stress from unresolved trauma.
Lastly, pay attention to your relationships. If you find yourself isolating yourself or have trouble trusting others, it may be because you are still struggling to cope with what happened.
Conclusion
There are many ways to reduce the hold that trauma can have on our lives. While some traumas may never be fully healed, there are things we can do to lessen their impact. The six methods described in this article are just some of the ways you can work towards reducing the power that old trauma has over you. Try out a few of these techniques and see which ones work best for you. Remember, it takes time to heal old wounds, but it is possible to move on from them and lead a happy, fulfilled life.
