If you have had a traumatic experience you will get some kind of emotional reaction. And although each person might have a different experience, there are a number of responses that are common. It is very normal for a person to have unpleasant feelings as a reaction to an abnormal event. You might feel you are going crazy or maybe even that you are losing your mind, but please remember that it is a normal reaction.

Sometimes the signs and symptoms may not appear until some time after the event. And most of the responses are part of the normal process of recovery and help you adapt to the trauma. A lot of times the symptoms and signs disappear over a period of weeks, although sometimes it may last for months or even years depending on how traumatic the experience was.

It is possible that your feelings get worse when you are reminded of the event or when you discuss your experience with other people. But please don’t let that stop you from talking about it; it does help if you share experiences and feelings with other people.

After you go through a traumatic experience, you might get different kinds of responses. These responses can be emotional or physical, but they can also affect your thinking and behaviour.

Common emotional responses can be:

• Shock - You are in disbelief at what happened. You might feel numb or have the feeling that things are unreal.

• Fear - You are afraid the experience will repeat itself. You might be afraid something happens to yourself or your loved ones. You can even experience unrelated fears.

• Anger – You are angry at who caused the traumatic event or at the person who ‘allowed’ it to happen. You are angry at the injustice. You even might be irritable and angry in general.

• Sadness – You feel sad about the losses (human and material). You feel sad because you lost the feelings of security and safety. You might even feel depressed for no reason at all.

• Shame – You feel ashamed for having appeared emotional or helpless or for not behaving the way as you would have liked.

Common physical responses can be:

• Sleep – You find it difficult to fall asleep because of intrusive thoughts. You have a restless or disturbed sleep. Feel tired and fatigued.

• Physical problems – Your muscles are tensed and you are generally agitated. You are easily startled by noises. You have breathing difficulties, headaches or general aches and pains. Or maybe you even get nausea, diarrhoea, constipation or many other physical signs and symptoms.

Common thinking responses can be:

• Memories – You have frequent thoughts or images of the incident or of other frightening events. You have flashbacks or feelings of reliving the traumatic experience. Pictures of what happened jump into your head. Or maybe you are trying to shut out the memories of what happened.

• Dreams – You have dreams and nightmares of what happened. You might get unpleasant dreams of other frightening things.

• Confusion – You find it difficult to make a simple decision. You have trouble concentrating and you have memory problems.

Common behaviour responses can be:

• Social – You feel the need to be alone and you withdraw from others. You get easily irritated by other people or feel detached from them. You lose interest in normal activities and hobbies.

• Work – You don’t want to go to work, you are unmotivated. You have problems concentrating

• Habits – You increase your alcohol intake, smoke more cigarettes or use more of other drugs. You might lose your appetite or you start to eat more. You are not interested in enjoyable activities. Loss of sexual interest.

If you need help to overcome the effects of a traumatic experience, do not be afraid to get it. It is not a sign of weakness or a sign that you are losing your mind. The help you can get can be very short and simple and will prevent long term problems.

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