What does a trauma response feel like?
Table of Contents
What does a trauma response feel like?
Emotional reactions to trauma fear, anxiety and panic. shock – difficulty believing in what has happened, feeling detached and confused. feeling numb. not wanting to connect with others or becoming withdrawn from those around you.
What are typical trauma responses?
Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited.
How do you know if you have a trauma response?
Symptoms of psychological trauma
- Shock, denial, or disbelief.
- Confusion, difficulty concentrating.
- Anger, irritability, mood swings.
- Anxiety and fear.
- Guilt, shame, self-blame.
- Withdrawing from others.
- Feeling sad or hopeless.
- Feeling disconnected or numb.
Why is keeping busy a trauma response?
You’re Always Busy People with high-functioning PTSD tend to be workaholics or find some other way to keep their time occupied. “Staying busy all the time allows the individual with high-functioning PTSD to not have to think about the painful memories,” trauma therapist Ginger Poag, MSW, LCSW, CEMDR tells Bustle.
What are PTSD responses?
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.
What is the flop response?
A ‘flop’ response results in a total bodily collapse, which might involve blacking out or loss of consciousness, loss of control over bodily functions or total disorientation. This is also referred to as collapsed immobility where the muscles become all floppy like a ragdoll.
Why do people with PTSD stay busy all the time?
“Staying busy all the time allows the individual with high-functioning PTSD to not have to think about the painful memories, ” trauma therapist Ginger Poag, MSW, LCSW, CEMDR tells Bustle. “The trauma and memories may be too overwhelming for the person that they rather stay busy to keep their mind off of what happened.”
What happens to your body when you have a trauma?
“This can lead to having an extreme emotional reaction (tears, feelings of hopelessness, catastrophizing) to stressful or anxious situations, especially if this reaction is much more intense than what you felt before the trauma,” trauma therapist Michele Quintin, LCSW tells Bustle.
Is PTSD a direct result of trauma?
“What many don’t realize is that PTSD is not a direct result of trauma,” John Hamilton, LMFT, LADC and Chief Clinical Outreach Officer at Mountainside Treatment Center, tells Bustle. “It’s not just the experience that results in PTSD, but how the person responds to that experience internally.
Can’t go out with friends because of PTSD?
“It is common for individuals with high-functioning PTSD to cancel plans they had made with friends,” says Poag. “The person wants to go out and have a good time, but when it actually comes down to going, the individual feels too overwhelmed, and does not want to go out and socialize with a lot of people.