Trauma must be healed at every level otherwise it can literally haunt you

Leaving things half way is never a good idea, especially, when you are dealing with trauma and taking therapy to tackle it. We say this because unhealed trauma can lead to other major mental health issues that you might not be able to reverse.

According to Dr Samir Parikh, director and HOD department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Fortis healthcare, trauma, if left untreated, has the potential to affect our perspective, the way we react to events in our lives, and the people who interact with us on a day-to-day basis. It can interfere with our way of thinking. It can affect our self-esteem, the way we perceive the actions of those around us, the relationships we have, and the way we interact with the world.

What does an unhealed trauma look like?

Skipping therapy or leaving it mid-way can lead to multiple mental health issues like:

• Depression
• Rage
• Addiction
• Guilt
• Flashbacks
• Insomnia or too much sleeping
• Sense of shame

Traumatic experiences can interfere with one’s way of thinking – it can affect the way one looks at themselves, feels about themselves and those they have relationships with. It can also leave one feeling helpless, angry, fearful, paranoid, and anxious, and all these emotions can colour your perspective, preventing you from moving forward in life. Reactions can also be evoked through triggers, which can hamper one’s way of living. It can result in an emotional response that is not aligned with the situation.

These triggers may or may not be related to the traumatic event, but they have the potential to cause a severe misunderstanding. Unresolved trauma can also cause depression, thereby affecting one’s ability to hold relationships, keep them motivated, and build a life.

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“Since trauma is often experienced in relation with a person or because of a person, people with unresolved trauma might feel that those around them, whether at work or at a personal level, are not reliable or trustworthy. Everything is viewed with suspicion. Every experience is accompanied with a sense of distress and depression,” suggests Dr Parikh.

He adds, “One might feel the world is not a just place. Professional and personal relationships do get affected, because one is worried that the trauma will occur again, so one is not able to give their 100% to any relationship.”

Why can’t you afford to skip therapy?

Often, trauma victims blame themselves for what has happened to them, their self-worth suffers, and their ability to look at something in a rational manner gets affected. Therefore, treatment and therapy are very important.
You need to work through what has happened, learn from it, understand the reasons behind it, and cope with it. Resolving trauma also means understanding what your coping mechanism is, and how you will respond to any future adversity. It also involves building a support system.

“Healing must take place at a social, cognitive, and emotional level. Only then will you move forward, and make decisions that are not influenced by that one traumatic event that took place in your life. Resolving a trauma means addressing it, understanding it, learning from it, and then not allowing it to influence the way you approach your life in the future, and the decisions you make,” suggests Dr Parikh.

So, don’t let the ball drop ladies and give it your all to heal yourself completely!