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Sadly, many people have witnessed horror on a major scale. You may have enlisted in a branch of the service looking to make a difference, to serve your country and maybe to find a career. Trauma, however, isn't limited to soldiers who witness unspeakable atrocities or suffer horrifific injuries. Those who watched friends die next to them in battle are traumatized, as well.
If you enlisted, you made a difference in this world and, hopefully, you found a career, but at what cost? Some soldiers come back home and put the fury and chaos behind them when they take off the uniform. Some aren't able to. A significant percentage of those who experience combat suffer from post-traumatic stress symptoms. For many, the emotional and physical symptoms dissipate awhile after returning home. They get back into their lives, go on with their relationships and move forward with their lives. For others, gripping, gut-wrenching symptoms hang on for years.
But trauma isn't limited to war zones. There are victims of industrial accidents, natural disasters--such as hurricanes and floods--who find themselves living daily with emotions they struggle to shake. We see trauma after trauma on the news every night. Dozens of them. Crimes and accidents and violence done by ones who were supposed to be safe. In each and every one of these, someone's life is changed forever. The effects can linger.
In what seems like a more mundane occurrence, our highways are the scene of traffic accidents that can also have profound physical, mental and emotional effects. One large study found as many as nine percent of individuals who survive significant motor vehicle accidents experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
A research and treatment organization, Child Trauma Academy, is studying the neurological effects of trauma in high-risk children. Victims who are exposed to traumatizing environments or situations at an early age will show changes in brain development. The good news is that these can be successfully addressed in many kids.
You may have experienced or witnessed an event in your life that you've never recognized or labeled as traumatic. Combat, natural disasters, motor vehicle accidents, physical and/or sexual abuse. If you've been exposed to these as a child or an adult, it is possibly still affecting you in ways you don't realize. Traumatic events can lead to emotional health difficulties and poor interpersonal relations.
If you or someone you love has experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, getting assistance makes sense. Don't struggle alone.
