Trauma
What is Trauma?
After an incident or accident in the wilderness we often think about physical injuries, but there is a lot more that can happen.
Emotional or psychological trauma can occur after any event where your safety or life are threatened. In the mountains this can include being lost, fearing for your life, being badly injured, or the death of a group member or loved one. Trauma can occur when you experience the event directly or when you witness it, for example seeing your friend fall and be badly injured. These types of events can have a big impact on your life and can affect your health and well-being in many ways. Each person will have a different reaction to trauma and move through the process in their own way.
The Process After Trauma?
After experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, you might notice that you don't feel like yourself. This is normal.
After trauma it is normal for people to move through different stages and experience different feelings. After accidents in the mountains, often people feel guilty for their involvement in the event. Sometimes people relive the situation through flashbacks or nightmares. These can feel very real and have a big impact on people’s lives. For other people, they might experience increased arousal, meaning they might feel anxious and hypervigilant. Some people might feel the need to control things around them. Sometimes people aren’t able to participate in the activities they normally do, which can feel like a loss of self identity. Trauma can also cause changes in people’s mood, such as feeling angry, fearful, or depressed.
It is important to know that these are all normal responses to trauma. Your response is a normal reaction to an abnormal event.
Some common responses to trauma are feeling:
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Guilty, shameful or blaming yourself (survivors’ guilt)
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Anxious or fearful
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Sad or depressed
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Numb or detached
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Fatigued
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Angry or irritable
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Sensitive to loud noises
and/or experiencing:
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Intense memories or flashbacks
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Headaches and/or stomach aches
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Problems concentrating
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Problems sleeping including falling asleep, staying asleep, nightmares, or insomnia
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Avoiding situations that remind you of the event
For many people, these symptoms ease with time. However, for some symptoms may continue, get worse, or they might come back after being reminded of the event. See What Can I Do to Help My Recovery?