Taking Care of Yourself After a Distressing Situation
When someone is involved with a disaster or distressful event, they may experience trauma reactions because the event may feel random and happen in places we consider safe, like schools and offices.
You might experience these reactions if you:
- Were a witness or were involved in the event.
- Arrived upon the scene of the event.
- Were almost involved in the event.
- Knew or know others who were harmed or involved in some way.
- Have a relationship with family or friends of victims.
- Have heard a lot about the event through media or friends.
- Are reminded of other traumatic incidents in your life by this event.
When a traumatic event happens, it is shocking and difficult to cope with. Not everyone experiences the same responses, but people generally experience reactions in four categories. Here are some reactions that you may be experiencing.
Psychological & Emotional Reactions:
- Heightened anxiety or fear
- Irritability, restlessness, or over-excitability
- Feelings of sadness, moodiness, more crying than usual
- Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
- Feelings of numbness or detachment
- Feelings of self-blame that you escaped the tragedy
- Re-experiencing of the traumatic event, possibly including:
- Intrusive thoughts or images of the event
- Distressing dreams or nightmares
- Flashbacks about the event
- Distress when exposed to events that remind you of the trauma
- Feelings of estrangement or isolation from others
- Hypervigilance (feelings especially attuned to events around you, scanning environment for possible danger)
Cognitive Reactions
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling confused or distracted, slower thought than normal
Physical Reactions
- Headaches
- Nausea or upset stomach
- Exaggerated startle response (tendency to startle easily at loud noises)
- Fatigue or feelings slowed down
- Insomnia
Behavioral
- Hyperactivity, or less activity
- Heightened tendency to behave irritably
- Withdrawal, social isolation
- Avoidance of activities or places that remind you of traumatic event
- Strong need to talk about the event, read accounts about the event
Give yourself permission to have reactions and take care of yourself by asking for help from others. Many find relief and comfort in talking about their thoughts and feelings related to these types of events. It is perfectly reasonable to seek help from friends, family, spiritual advisors, and mental health professionals. Here are some suggestions for you to care for yourself:
Supporting Your Health
The following are important ways to support your health and manage any ongoing concerns:
- Stay connected to friends and family. Social support helps you cope with stressful situations. Also, talking about the event with others will help you better come to terms with what happened and process it in healthy ways.
- Maintain or develop feelings of gratitude and a sense of resilience. Focus on things that you are thankful for. Have confidence that you can bounce back.
- Try not to numb. Avoid substance misuse. Substances may seem to give you an escape, but they can lead to psychological or physical health concerns.
- Consult a spiritual advisor. Many people find comfort in spiritual guidance.
- Talk to a health care professional. It is important to understand your thoughts and feelings, and to face them. Don’t avoid them. A psychological health care professional can guide you through this process.
Some practices for distress responses:
1. Sleep well. Sleep is essential for physical and emotional well-being. College students need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Sleep needs to be a priority to keep stress in check. To protect shut-eye, limit screen use at night and avoid keeping digital devices in the bedroom. If you feel tired, rest.
2. Exercise. Physical activity is an essential stress reliever for people of all ages. Adults over 18 need at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) aerobic ("cardio") activity a week and muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days a week. If you experience hyperactivity, use that energy in physical activity.
3. Talk it out. Talking about stressful situations with a trusted adult can help put things in perspective and find solutions.
4. Make time for fun—and quiet. We need time to do what brings joy, whether that’s unstructured or structured, it’s important to have uninterrupted hours to practice music, produce art, laugh, etc. Find a healthy balance between favorite activities and free time. Spend time in silence. Do things that feel self-caring: take a bath, walk in nature, or fix a special meal.
5. Get outside. Spending time in nature is an effective way to relieve stress and improve overall well-being. Researchers have found that people who live in areas with more green space have less depression, anxiety, and stress.
6. Write about it. Research has found that expressing oneself in writing can help reduce mental distress and improve well-being. Some research has found, for example, that writing about positive feelings—such as the things you’re grateful for or proud of—can ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.
7. Pray and learn mindfulness. Daily prayer can provide comfort and strength. Meditation, quiet, and mindfulness has also proven to reduce stress. Consider downloading an app (such as Calm, HeadSpace or Healthy Minds) for focusing your mind.
Recovering is a process. It’s impossible to predict how long you will experience the effects of trauma, but usually trauma reactions gradually decrease over time. If you experience another stressful event, you may find trauma reactions appear for awhile; this reactivation is normal.
If at any time during this process, you may find it helpful to ask for professional help from a counselor, please make an appointment with our counseling center or request sites off-campus. If you find yourself suicidal, or your daily functioning is impaired in ways that you can’t carry out your life tasks, or fears disrupt your ability to return to certain places or situations that remind you of the event, this may be a cause to speak to a trained mental health professional. They can be reached at:
Malone Counseling Center: 330-471-8711
Crisis Intervention of Stark County Hotline: 330-452-6000
988 Suicide and Crisis & Crisis Lifeline: call 988
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
Sources:
American Psychological Association. (2017). APA Resources for Coping with Mass Shootings, Understanding Gun Violence.
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. (n.d.). Coping with stress following a mass shooting.
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. (n.d.). Preparing, responding and coping with the stress of mass shootings.
Day, K. W., Lawson, G., Burge, P. (2015). “Clinicians’ Experiences of Shared Trauma After the Shootings at Virginia Tech.” Journal of Counseling & Development. 95, 269-278. doi: 10.1002/jcad.12141
Jensen, T. K., Thoresen, S., Dyb, G. (2015). “Coping responses in the midst of terror: the July 22 terror attack at Utøya Island in Norway.” Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. 56, 45–52 doi: 10.1111/sjop.12182
Lower, S. R., Galea, S. (2017). “The mental health consequences of mass shootings.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 18(1), 62-82. doi: 10.1177/1524838015591572
Mancini, A. D., Littleton, H. L., Grills, A. E. (2015). “Can people benefit from acute stress? Social support, psychological improvement, and resilience after the Virginia Tech campus shootings.” Clinical Psychological Science. 4(3), 401-417. doi: 10.1177/2167702615601001
McNeilly, Cheryl. (1991, 2015) Univerisity of Iowa. Found at: https://counseling.uiowa.edu/news/2015/09/taking-care-yourself-after-traumatic-event
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2017). 2016 fatal motor vehicle crashes: Overview.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2016). Coping Tips for Traumatic Events and Disasters.
Additional Resources