Grief and trauma can hit anyone at any time of their life. As none of us know what is waiting for us in the future. When one faces an unwanted and abnormal event trauma occurs. The situation might leave us in confusion, fear, depression, and anxiety. Traumatic events can sometimes make it difficult for us to understand what we should do next. The fear and stress caused by the unpleasant circumstance can interfere with our daily lives and overall well-being. A few examples of traumatic events are the death of a loved one, domestic violence, physical abuse, natural disaster, etc. With every type of traumatic event, the outlook and feelings of people may be quite different. Here are the five stages of the process of trauma.
Denial
When something happens beyond our expectations or we lose someone very close to us, our world changes and we break down. Denial is the most common response that one has in such a situation. The mind doesn’t want to accept the loss, and so we deny what has happened to us. But, on the contrary, the most important and effective way to overcome your loss is through facing it.
Anger
Anger is a very natural reaction to unexpected loss, grief, and pain. While some people may easily get over their anger, others may find it difficult and stay on the stage for quite a long time. Anger can manifest itself in various ways like isolation, irritability, emotional distancing, etc. You may have faced the situation yourself or have noticed someone going through it. Whatever may be the situation, but holding your anger for too long can be extremely harmful to both your emotional and physical health.
Bargaining
Bargaining is a situation when you try to deal and bargain over your emotions. For example, if a child has lost his mother, he may bargain with God to give back his mother and he will never cry or do any mischief in return. It is the third stage of trauma where you still don’t want to accept the loss and keep making efforts to regain your loss.
Depression
We are all very much familiar with this word called depression in our daily life. Depression can be defined as deep sadness followed by behavioral changes and suicidal thoughts in some serious cases. Depression, if not treated at the initial stage can lead to psychotic behaviors and thoughts. The condition occurs when all your efforts fail to calm yourself after losing your loved ones or going through a very unpleasant situation. The stage of depression occurs after going through a series of emotions like denial, anger, and bargaining.
Acceptance
Acceptance doesn’t necessarily mean that you have forgotten the bad experience you have been through. Instead, it means to accept any situation the way it is. Acceptance makes you realize that certain things in this world are always beyond your control. So, the best way to keep your calm and avoid mental disturbances is by accepting this real fact. Once you learn to accept things the way it is, it makes you stronger and lets you focus on your future. This way you can have better control over your thoughts and emotions.
The bottom line
Each one of us has a different pace to reach the final stage of trauma. It often happens that we move back and forth between the stages of denial and depression in trauma. Once an unpleasant event takes place in your life, it is very necessary that you keep patience and slowly try to get over your emotions.
If you are going through any of the above stages after having a traumatic experience, seeking help from a mental health expert becomes a necessary step. But sometimes you might not want society to know about your mental health condition. In such a condition, online therapy can be the best solution. Experienced editors wrote in the article Washingtoncitypaper.com/article/534154/best-online-therapy/ the common ways online therapy can benefit you and how to choose the best online therapy.