Past trauma is an emotional experience characterized by a person’s inability to escape from negative memories in the past. Generally, past trauma is caused by a number of unpleasant events. Examples include an unhappy childhood, an accident, the death of a family member, to bullying by others.
Keep in mind that trauma can have long-lasting effects on mental, physical, and emotional health. Especially if certain things make a person feel triggered by his past trauma.
As a result, a person who has a past trauma can experience shock, sadness, panic, in response to his thoughts. This condition cannot be underestimated, and needs to be overcome slowly. So, what are some tips for overcoming past trauma?
Here are some tips that can be applied to dealing with past trauma:
1. Telling it to the closest person
The first tip that needs to be done is to tell the past trauma to those closest to you when you are ready. To do so, the first thing to do is to identify a trusted friend or family member, to seek support.
When you feel ready to talk about it, you can share your experiences and feelings about the trauma you had. In addition to telling stories, you can also seek support from the closest people to help complete household obligations or tasks. It aims to reduce the stress that arises.
2. Face your feelings
Avoiding triggers or memories of past traumatic events by sleeping all the time, isolating yourself, is natural. However, this cannot be done continuously. Because, the longer a person avoids, this can prolong stress and make a person unable to recover.
Therefore, gradually, face the feelings you have. In addition, try to return to a normal routine gradually, and ask for support from the closest person, or a psychologist.
3. Be patient
The next tip that needs to be applied is to be patient. Remember that having a strong reaction or response to a traumatic event is perfectly normal. However, you also need to face it so that it doesn’t bring you down. This needs to be done slowly. This means that you need to be patient and at peace with yourself, because over time your situation will improve.
4. Apply self-care
Self-care can reduce stress, so it needs to be done to help recovery from past trauma. Well, self-care can be applied through feeling good and loving yourself. For example, doing ‘me time’, taking longer baths, to doing positive activities that you like, such as reading a book or watching a movie.
5. Exercise regularly
Regular exercise can also be done to overcome past trauma. Because, exercise can be used as a distraction for the past trauma that you have. In addition, experts also say that exercise is an effective way to overcome the side effects of traumatic events and reduce stress.
If you want to try it, there are several types of sports that are recommended to do. Starting from doing gentle stretches, walking leisurely, to running or jogging. However, if you feel tired, make sure to rest and don’t push yourself.
Those are some tips that can be done to overcome past trauma. Starting from telling it to those closest to you, dealing with your feelings, to exercising regularly. If some of these tips do not make a difference, immediately see a psychiatrist.