Behaviors Caused By Trauma

Human beings are like an iceberg. We go through life sharing only the pieces of ourselves that we want people to see. But there's so much more going on inside.

Isaac Newton's third law states that: "for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction." I think that this "law of motion" can be applied to human beings too.

Think about it.

For everything we say, think or do, there is a corresponding reaction. In terms of Stress on the body, this is true. When something traumatic happens to us, or to someone near us, we react to defend ourselves.

It's a defence mechanism to protect us from harm.

In victims of traumatic stress, there is a physiological change that happen inside our bodies.

I described the five F's of behaviors to traumatic events in my last two articles. Today, I want to explain what those behaviors are like in real life.

There's always going to be a difference between academic study of trauma and for those who live with PTSD or Complex-PTSD every single day. 

I fall under the second category, and I can help other survivors because I have lived with Complex PTSD for most of my life.

It's far from easy, but as time goes by, things have got easier. 

I often feel like I have an anchor holding me back when I have a bad day or night. I want to keep going, ignore whatever's eating me, but I can't.

Sometimes, you have to face what's eating you and it usually means to stop whatever it is you're doing and listen to your body.

The world keeps spinning whether you want it to or not when you're struggling. It's worth having a few coping techniques stowed away for a trigger day. 

I have these triggers all the time, but even my closest colleagues have no idea that I'm falling apart some days.

I've got very good at hiding how I really feel.

Living with Traumatic Stress

Traumatic events change the way you look at yourself and the world. Your brain can go into over drive, and it can make you hyper-aware of everything around you. 

This can cause some big changes in your behavior.

Living with trauma can feel like your world has been ripped away from under your feet. Nothing feels the same anymore, and you are plunged into a world of constant fear, anxiety, and overwhelming situations. 

Living with trauma can feel like a constant battle to function. Some days, it's hard to get out of bed. Taking a shower, and eating can become a huge battle because self care is the last thing on your mind. 

It's hard to face your friends and go out when the stress from trauma is clouding your thoughts and motivation.

Holding down a job can become impossible when constant nightmares, and trauma memories happen, destroying your focus and memory. 

Imagine if you had an epic nightmare of being murdered, or tortured. Your brain is reliving parts of your past that's showing a 4D movie without a pause button.

How could you function at work the next day? 

Imagine, a friend is waving a knife around while talking animatedly over a kid's birthday cake. It's an exciting event with kids running round the room and adults having fun talking to each other, but you're frozen staring at that knife as the room dulls. The voices disappear and you're pulled back in time to a trauma memory, hijacked by your own brain. 

As you come out of the flashback, it's hard not to react without causing a scene. 

You can suffer from brain fog, mood swings and find change difficult. 

Some days, you want to conquer everything all at once and you feel fantastic like the bad days never existed. 

It's confusing, right? It's no wonder people call trauma survivors mentally ill, but it's far from the truth. Trauma survivors have been hurt in the most profound way, and that hurt has to come out eventually.

Some survivors can flip between hyper-vigilance, and dissociation in a few minutes. Imagine living like that every single day?

Everyone reacts differently to traumatic events because of life experience, resilience, and if you have a support system or not.

It's important to understand that everyone is different in their healing journeys. Some survivors heal quickly, but others can struggle all their lives.

Behaviors Caused by Traumatic Stress

Feeling on edge and scanning your surroundings for threats and danger.

Irritability, anger and withdrawing from people.

Avoiding situations that are too painful because they trigger memories.

Feeling worthless, ashamed and distorting our opinions of ourselves and others. 

Social situations and cues can feel fragmented and cause problems in forming and keeping friendships.

Anxiety and vulnerability

Depression

Mixed emotions that lead to confusion in situations.

Trust issues because of the fear of being exposed to more pain.

What Help is Available for Trauma survivors?

Therapy - Seeing a therapist can help you find the tools to handle triggers and take control back through coping mechanisms.

Support network - Having a strong network of friends around you.

Self-care - is important to live a healthy life. Things like exercising, mindfulness, relaxation and yoga, and doing a hobby can do wonders to reduce your stress levels.

Medication - Can be helpful for people who are struggling to sleep and those who suffer from anxiety.

Education - Learning about Trauma and how it can affect you enables you to take charge of your healing journey.

Change - Be willing to heal the root cause of your trauma to move forward in your life.

Living with trauma affects every aspect of your life. You're hurting in the most profound way and you can't ignore it forever. It;s time you put yourself first.

I did.

My name is Lizzy. I'm a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

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For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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