Managing unresolved prior trauma may occasionally be excruciatingly difficult. You might suffer severe mental and emotional damage. Dealing with it may have a very bad impact on your current life and relationships, which is the hardest part. It can impair the way you think and see other people and events in your daily life. Let's look at how your unresolved trauma is manifesting in the present.
Emotional Instability
People who have unresolved trauma frequently struggle to control their emotions. They could have strong emotional reactions that appear out of proportion to the circumstance, such as persistent anger, worry, sorrow, or dread. Additionally, they could battle with emotional numbness or feel completely cut off from their feelings. Sometimes such feelings will only show up when you're feeling really stressed. If you find yourself at this point, you're doing well, but you still have more healing to do.
Persistent Memories
Flashbacks or intrusive recollections of the traumatic incident are two ways that unresolved trauma might present itself. These can make people repeat the traumatic event when provoked by memories or circumstances that are comparable to them. It could interfere with their normal routine and cause worry, fear, or confusion. Eventually, you'll find ways of coping with these memories so that they're no longer as intrusive, but they'll still be there. (You can't erase your past, but you can choose healthier ways of coping with it.)
Numbing and Avoiding Behaviors
People who have unresolved trauma frequently engage in avoidance behaviors as a coping mechanism. They could steer clear of circumstances, locations, or people that bring up their terrible experiences. Such individuals could also misuse drugs or alcohol, put in excessive hours at work, or exhibit obsessive behaviors. Please pay special attention to the work-related one as this is something I struggled with for a while, never realizing just how unhealthy it was. This is because it's easy to bury yourself in your job, especially if you enjoy it, and say you just have to work a lot.
Relationship Problems
The capacity of an individual to establish and sustain meaningful relationships can be substantially impacted by unresolved trauma. As a result of prior trauma, they could have issues with intimacy, vulnerability, and trust. Additionally, people may display codependency habits, emotional withdrawal, or abandonment fears. Even single parents who aren't in a relationship can still have codependency issues - with their children.
Persistent Physical Ailments Result From Unresolved Trauma
Physical symptoms that have no obvious medical reason might develop as a result of unresolved trauma. These could include gastrointestinal problems, persistent discomfort, headaches, or inexplicable tiredness. As we read in "The Body Keeps the Score," the mind and body are closely entwined. Unresolved trauma can have an impact on one's physical health. Unfortunately, this is something that I know all too well and wish I'd learned earlier so I could avoid all the health problems I have today.
At Healing Family Trauma Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania I'm here to remind you that you're strong, you're an overcomer. You don't have to let unresolved trauma complicate your life. This is a message that survivors need to hear. To help share this message with other survivors, I invite you to consider contributing to this site today.
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