Dealing with a trauma or death can be excruciating for any family, but having to deal with trauma clean up can be unbearable and even hazardous — both physically and psychologically. The vast majority of families that attempt trauma scene cleanup themselves are unaware that crime scene cleanup services exist or that most Homeowners Insurance will pay for the cleanup. Without the services of trained crime scene clean up technicians using the correct precautions, trauma survivors face many risks. Physically, the dangers include blood and air borne pathogens such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, Influenza, tuberculosis, and meningitis.
Psychological risks include Critical Incident Stress Syndrome (CISS) or Acute Stress Disorder. CISS is a pattern of psychological and/or physiological reactions to a stressful incident or traumatic event including nausea, vomiting, anger, depression, exhaustion, restlessness, feeling a loss of control, isolation, anxiety and stress. There is no standard pattern of reaction for trauma survivors nor is there a standard time frame for symptoms to last. However, there are a number of things a trauma survivor can do after a death or traumatic event to help restore an emotional state of well-being.
• First, and most important, would be to educate yourself about Critical Incident Stress Syndrome. CISS is an equal opportunity offender; symptoms can occur in all types of people from all different walks of life and is not a sign of weakness.
• No two people react the same way to a traumatic incident. There are a myriad of possible feelings you may have and those feelings are normal.
• Understanding the symptoms of CISS that you may be having will make the situation less frightening to you.
• You should also know that CISS symptoms do not last forever, that you will feel “normal” again.
• Take extra care of yourself. You can significantly help the process of trauma recovery by giving yourself the time and space to cope with any emotions or symptoms.
• Be sure to get enough rest at night.
• Eat a balanced diet and avoid non-prescription drugs and excessive alcohol.
• Find trauma recovery support by talking with friends and family or seek the help of a professional counselor or support group.
Emotional trauma can be a very debilitating condition, all the more so because it is often overlooked by the sufferer’s friends, family and colleagues as simply a character flaw, which they expect the sufferer to overcome and just pull himself or herself together. It occurs when stress explodes beyond a person’s ability to process or deal with an extreme life experience or occurrence. Dealing with emotional trauma cannot begin without first understanding it. There have been recent reports of success in dealing with emotional trauma with body and psychotherapy treatments involving stimulating neurological points.
Techniques such as EFT can play a major role in the medical community in keeping people healthy when combined with current practices. EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) is a simple tapping technique that is used widely as both a self-help tool and therapeutic treatment option to help reduce and often totally eliminate emotional and physical discomfort. It is an emotional, needle free version of acupuncture that is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body’s subtle energies, your emotions, and your health. Best of all, anyone can learn and use EFT and you don’t need specialized schooling for it.
Trauma is one of those emotional health areas that can impact our lives unexpectedly. Many of my clients have been in the armed forces and experienced active service; they may have witnessed or been subject to an act of violence; some clients may live (or have lived) with ongoing emotional abuse within a significant relationship. Whatever the issue, the knock-on effects of trauma can present in many ways. Here are some examples:
• hyper vigilance (where you pay attention to your surroundings at an exhausting level of awareness)
• eczema and other skin complaints
• breathing difficulties
• challenges with meaningful relationships
• outbursts of anger (recognised as too big for the incident that’s just occurred)
• difficulty sleeping (tired and irritable each day)
This above list would be traditionally treated in 2 ways: firstly you may be offered medication (sleeping pills, emotion suppressants, anti depressants) to manage some of the physical symptoms; and secondly you may be offered a series of counselling to talk through your trauma experience and to try to make more sense of it (which is good assuming it doesn’t require you to re-live those past experiences).
In Human Givens psychotherapy (which is the only therapy we’ll offer our clients at Healthy Chat) our approach is simple and it’s also 2-fold:
1. de-sensitise the trauma so that a client is no longer hijacked by their past experiences impacting their present reality. We do a powerful (and quick) piece of work on the very first session.
2. re-equip the client to move on positively with their life. Here we work for 2 or 3 further sessions reviewing the parts of their life they’d now like to rebuild and move forward with – relationships, career, fitness, etc – and get on with designing and practicing some practical strategies to support that
Traumatic events are experienced by millions of people every year. Some a person may be fully aware of, and some may be blocked out of their mind for reasons of emotional (and sometimes physical) survival. In most cases a dramatic experience can’t be kept in check forever, so if you, or someone you know, is experiencing increasing difficulty in thinking clearly, managing overwhelm, or has unexpected outbursts of anger, it’s worth having a first conversation with a Human Givens therapist to explore whether a recent or old traumatic event might be the reason.
I’ve often found that the more simple a process is, the more we can trust it. Like:
• Food: fruit, vegetables, meat (or not) & carbs in their natural form (if you’re reading dozen’s of ingredients its probably not a great choice) – keep it simple
• Fitness: run, swim, walk, dance, move, enjoy. Step out of your house and get your heart rate up for 20 minutes. That’s it – keep it simple
• Friendships: this feels good – do more of it; this feels like a chore – do less of it – keep it simple
The Stages of Trauma Treatment
Diagnosis involves physical examination as well as X-ray imaging. Imaging is typically used to identify fractures, and the location and extent of damage. Apart from the physical injury, neurological examination looks for damage that may not be immediately visible. The goal is to discover all possible injuries to the body so that treatment can be prescribed for all of them.
Treatment of lacerations may need stitches to heal correctly. In the case of fractures, the bone must be set to heal properly. If the doctor prescribes painkillers, an urgent care facility will have an on-site pharmacy to provide the medication.
The prevention of infection is an important component in the treatment of penetrative trauma injuries. Trauma management refers to the range of treatments and follow-up care recommended by doctors in order to achieve full recovery.
Follow-up Care for Full Recovery
Professional and reliable record keeping by urgent care center staff ensures that treatment and follow-up will proceed smoothly. All medical, technical and administrative staff at an urgent medical center are not only highly qualified professionals, they are also committed to providing compassionate care to patients in a state of crisis.
Urgent care centers are open around the clock, and you don’t need to make an appointment to see a doctor. Unlike emergency rooms, urgent care centers are well equipped to provide follow-up care, which is essential for full recovery. Urgent care centers accept most forms of insurance and offer special low-cost treatment for uninsured patients.
By definition, trauma is a moment of crisis for the patient and his or her family. Even minor trauma involves not only physical pain and a long recovery but also anxiety, stress and possible mental health concerns. A well-equipped urgent care center goes a long way towards making the process of treatment and recovery as stress and hassle-free as possible.
It is important for individuals to research the type of therapy they would like to use. Recent research is supporting the use of expressive therapies. Expressive therapies involve recognizing and validating the emotions that are the results of trauma. Emotions involve several processes that are a vital aspect of the mind. Cognitions and emotions work with each other. They cannot be separated. Emotions connect people with one another. Unfortunately, many people were not given a healthy attachment experience during the first three years of their lives, which often results in those individuals being unable to be aware of their feelings. It is vital to be aware of our feelings, they continually give us important information. Trauma can result in individuals trying to anesthetize their feelings. Sometimes these efforts take the shape of an addiction. Other times a person will simply convince themselves that they have no feelings or that they are “not emotional”. Expressive therapies can be very helpful for these individuals, as well as, for those who are more aware of their feelings.
A combination of cognitive and expressive therapies is often best. Expressive therapy can elicit emotions with relative ease. Cognitive therapy can then be used to teach coping skills for the emotions. Behaviors are the result of thoughts and feelings. Behaviors will improve as the individual’s emotional and cognitive health improves. A hallmark of good therapy is when the therapist is able to meet a client “where they’re at”. An example of this would be the highly intellectualized client. A good therapist would begin by using a lot of cognitive and educational work, while gradually introducing emotional and expressive work.