Do you live in a busy city? If yes, you must be familiar with how a place like this can be exciting and overwhelming simultaneously. Also, a person suffering from trauma can struggle more with the underlying emotions and mental challenges as a result of the ever-present noise and intense pressure associated with the big city.
You may think all is well and you’ve moved past some unpleasant situations you’ve experienced but the truth is, they linger on until you take steps to heal properly. A lingering trauma can impact your everyday life, affecting your relationships, productivity, and general health. Furthermore, triggers in big cities, as mentioned earlier, can complicate the situation.
Therefore, get help. You can participate in trauma therapy in New York City to manage your mental struggles and live happily. This article will show you ways trauma can affect you and why you need to get help.
Feeling Different
Trauma can really affect the way you see yourself from others. It can make you feel like you are different from other people and that it will be difficult for anyone to really understand what you have experienced. This can really be evident if your trauma was caused by an experience rooted in shame and disgrace, gradually making you lose your self-worth.
If you don’t check yourself and get help on time, you might begin to question your value as a person. This may become worse, and you begin to compare yourself to people around you only in ways that increase your pain.
Now, imagine how this feeling can become worse if you live in a big city. Big cities are known to have successful and confident inhabitants. This might give you the feeling that everyone around you has everything figured out whereas your life is full of struggles. However, it is not so. Everyone has a battle or two they are fighting which is not evident on the outside. Regardless, trauma has a way to make you believe you are the only one left behind.
In short, this feeling might make you lose your self-worth, removing all the trust you have in yourself. This can isolate you. Hence, trauma therapy can be your best bet in realizing that your past doesn’t define who you are now and who you can become.
Triggers and Flashbacks
Another way trauma can affect your life in the big city is the occurrence of flashbacks and triggers. These triggers and flashbacks are often sudden, and they may catch you off guard anywhere.
Triggers are some things you see, smell, or hear or occurrences that stir up unpleasant feelings that may have caused your trauma. What’s more? With many activities in a city environment, you can’t miss all the triggers around. The sound from a car horn, a congested subway, the smell of burning fuel, or the things a complete stranger says to you, the number of triggers is unlimited.
The funny thing is that these triggers may have no logical explanation but they can take you back to the time you were vulnerable or felt in danger.
Furthermore, flashbacks are another effect of trauma in your life. They can look like you are having a bad experience once again. Your heart can skip beats, you can begin to shiver, and the present moment may elude you. A flashback is not an experience anyone should suffer.
Nevertheless, don’t panic. You can manage these triggers and flashbacks by taking the right steps to heal. Participating in trauma therapy is an excellent way to identify the triggers and develop the best way to manage them well.
Inability to Manage Stress
The inability to manage stress is a severe effect of trauma. Don’t be confused; this will break things down for you. Trauma often changes the way the brain and body are wired. They become more alert, trying to see if there is any danger approaching.
It might sound like a good thing, but it is not. This excessive awareness can make you misinterpret daily stress as threats. For instance, if you are someone who’s still healing from the trauma of kidnapping, a stranger pushing you slightly in a crowded area may appear to be another threat. You may begin to shout, go into shock, or overreact instead of remaining calm to understand your environment.
Meanwhile, as a city dweller, you can’t avoid the constant drama, crowd, and fast pace. Your inability to manage this stress can trigger your buried emotions and make you react inappropriately to some situations. Getting to work and coping with the many assignments can become challenging. Before you know it, you may end up relying on unhealthy means just to cope with each day.
Nevertheless, with the right trauma therapy, you can understand the best way to manage your stress and reduce each day’s emotional and physical struggles.
Lost of Focus and Low Productivity
Another effect of trauma in your everyday life in the big city is a loss of focus and low productivity. This happens because your mind and brain are often battling with unresolved traumatic feelings and experiences for the most part of the day. No one can manage to be in the moment and fully engage in productive activities while their mind wanders about due to pain suffered in the past.
Additionally, as you go about your day-to-day activities, easy tasks may become difficult whenever trauma is in play. This may result in self-doubt and reduced output.
Difficulty in Forming and Keeping Relationships
Difficulty in forming new bonds with people is another effect of trauma. In fact, old relationships may also suffer. You may find yourself detaching and isolating yourself from others.
Moreover, you may have issues to connect well with others. This is rooted in trust issues, fear of judgment, and self-doubt developed as a result of your past experiences.
Saying Farewell to Trauma
As you have read in this article, trauma can impact any life significantly if not addressed on time. Indeed, it is difficult to let go of painful emotions and memories. Yet, trauma shouldn’t define who you are and hinder your growth.
Seeking help from a trauma therapy or support group and practicing mindfulness can help you take charge of your emotions and life. You are on the path of rediscovering yourself and enjoying the life you deserve.
