Traumatic Stress
Traumatic stress is where there has been an accumulation of traumatic experiences – such as in cases of bullying or other emotional or physical abuse where each incident is a trauma in itself. Or there may have been multiple traumas of different kinds.
Common indications are:
Issues around sleep:
Nightmares
Waking up more tired than when you went to bed
Not wanting to go to bed even though you are tired
Exhaustion and listlessness throughout the day – despite having slept all night
Feeling ‘spaced out’
Memory problems
An inability to concentrate
Problems with personal boundaries
Inexplicable aches, pains or symptoms
Feeling worse when you relax
Over-reacting to problems
Feeling very stressed, but not knowing why
Confusing fear and excitement
Signs of an exaggerated startle response – jittery movements, awkwardness.
Showing signs of a strong emotion e.g. anger without seeming to be aware of it – tone of voice, facial expression, choice of words…
Flashbacks or panic attacks
A feeling of living in the past.
Traumatic Stress
This article first appeared in the September 2011 edition of Reflexions Magazine published by The Association of Reflexologists. Traumatic stress is much more common than was previously understood and is associated with a substantial level of debility. Traumatic...