When your life feels upside down

Definition

Psychologically, trauma is experienced at three levels: the event, the memory of the event, and the emotions accompanying the memory.

1. The event: A traumatizing event is usually described by trauma survivors as a state of being stuck (feeling defenseless and frozen) under a sudden, unexpected aggression (verbal, physical, sexual offense), threatening the identity of the person, their pride and their dignity.
2. The memory: We often try to suppress memories of trauma, in the hope of forgetting or avoiding echoes, but they can return through unwelcomed flashbacks, daydreams or nightmares, or be triggered by situations and sensations — including unrelated but similar sights, smells, or tactile experiences. For example, a journalist who witnessed a mass shooting near a coffee shop could be triggered by the smell of coffee his wife is preparing at home.
3. Emotional reactions: At the emotional level, those memories are accompanied by an overwhelming flood of body reactions, leading potentially to episodes of panic attacks. To a great extent, those emotions are somatic memories, meaning that you actually feel the event in your body. For instance, a journalist who's arrested and abused while handcuffed, may feel pain around his wrists.

Trauma Symptoms

A traumatic event is a life-altering event. A media professional suffering from trauma disorder is likely to experience life as being out of sync from the moment of the event onward. He or she will feel out of rhythm, in a semi-constant state of disarray.

At the root of this mental disorder is what we call "hypervigilance." A traumatized brain gets stuck into an auto-pilot survival mode of extreme alertness. It is endlessly anxious about potential attacks the future could bring. This persistent hypervigilance tires the person physiologically, causing sleep and attention difficulties and psycho-somatic disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, heart problems, back problems, etc.

Depending on the nature of the trauma, this continuous overload of stress may also manifest itself at four key levels, especially if it is never addressed:

1. Emotional Dysregulation: Journalists with trauma may swing between a freeze mode (feeling numb, unable to feel happiness or sadness) and a flooding mode (bursting out of control with anger episodes). In addition, the constant saturation of stress makes the person edgy, authority defiant and hypersensitive. People suffering from trauma will find themselves unable to tolerate excess sound, touch, smell or light
2. Social Withdrawal: Hypervigilance means that the person affected might face difficulties in trusting others, he might suspect people of watching and conspiring against him, in addition to deep feelings of lonelines.
3. Identity Crisis: Persons with trauma disorder lose the meaning of life, the purpose of working and pursuing life plans. They question their self-worth and doubt their capacity to face the future. As a consequence, they lose interest in activities such as daily routines, hobbies, exercise, and self-development, and often immerse in negative addictions, such as substance abuse, sexual addiction and eating problems.
4. Dissociative Disorders: The trauma breaks the person internally into conflicting parts. For instance, one internal voice calls for impulsive actions, while another calls for caution. Persistent self-blame and lack of self-acceptance can lead to forms of escapism, such as excessive video gaming. Such activities are basically ways to dissociate from real life and live a virtual one.

Of course, some people suffer from trauma stress but do not experience all of these symptoms. The manifestation of symptoms will entirely depend on the nature of the traumatic event on the one hand, and the character, experience and background of the media professional on the other.

Recovery

The way to recovery mostly focuses on reducing the emotional impact of the trauma. We cannot go back in time to change the event itself, and we will never be able to forget or suppress it. But we can work on remembering the event without the overwhelming negativity. This memory reprocessing work is recommended in coordination with a trauma therapist.

Reducing hypervigilance is another important condition that the person with trauma needs to work on in parallel  with, or without, therapy.

Healing from hypervigilance, to a great extent, works on re-establishing the rhythm of life through simple baby steps that one can take slowly to restore a sense of normalcy:

1. Reconnecting with society: Developing safe relationships, starting with close family members and/or friends, establishing collective routines and rituals. By building social support, the person avoids spending time alone and getting consumed by negative thoughts.
2. Reconnecting with oneself: Learning to love and accept oneself with all the flaws and missteps and learning to accept negative emotions.
3. Reconnecting with one's body: Establishing a routine of rhythmic physical activities, such as exercising, playing sports, martial arts, singing, dancing. Rhythms are predictable, and the person with trauma finds comfort in predictability.
4. Reconnecting spiritually: Spirituality in any form or belief system, and its practices (praying, yoga, group rituals, etc.) connect the person to a wider universe, a wider historical context (fate) and help the affected person build acceptance and surrender to life changes. We learn that we cannot avoid accidents, but that we can manage them and build resiliency.
5. Reconnecting with the present: Being mindful of one's senses, finding pleasure in tasting, cooking good food, hugging and touching loved ones, or being present in nature, for example by enjoying gardening or hiking.
6. Reconnecting with the future: A person in shock, overwhelmed with fear, doesn't dare to dream. To break with this cycle, a journalist is advised to plan for a satisfying project. This could be an investigative piece, a social project, or any project deemed important to the life of the journalist or a given community.

Conclusion

Dealing with trauma is important for the survival of the affected person as an individual and for the wellbeing of the community. We often tend to emphasize and glorify strength and to deny ourselves the right to be weak following a traumatic event. But the reality is that the road to recovery starts with the acknowledgment of the seismic impact of trauma.

What we think of as strength is often nothing but emotional denial. So the appeal to the traumatized person is: Find  the courage to be weak.

Khaled Nasser is a family communication consultant who specializes in trauma management, parenting and couples’ therapy. He also provides trauma therapy and training sessions to refugee communities and journalists exposed to toxic stress and conflicts in the Middle East.