Relationships: The importance of being connected

After a traumatic experience many people find it hard to connect with other people and trust again, people may feel that others don’t understand them or that they are now changed and different from the people around them.

Experiencing a traumatic event deeply challenges a persons sense of safety and security in themselves and the world around them. Once they may have felt safe but now they may see danger around every corning, where a person could once walk into a room and breath they are now looking for the exits and having a plan in place in case something happens. These changes in the individual can have huge impacts on their relationships as the friends and families of that individual may have a harder time to make that connection and relate. The loved ones of the individual who experienced the trauma may also feel helpless and be unsure as to provide that individual with a sense of safety and security again.

Anger and anxiety are common emotional experiences for people who have survived a trauma. The individual may have a sense of helplessness and feel they’re unable to take care of themselves or that letting other people into their lives will leave them vulnerable to being hurt again. A persons sense of who they are may also be effected, the victim may begin to question their identity and their ability to take care of themselves and other people, they may also feel less connected to their body if they were physically hurt during their traumatic experience.

There is hope, people can rebuild their lives and their relationships after traumatic experiences, they can regain their sense of safety with themselves and others and begin to learn how to trust again. It’s a slow process to trust but it’s a step towards healing and keeping past experiences in the past. Every day following a trauma is a new chance to heal and to regain a sense of control over your life, each day is a chance to breath, to find meaning and happiness and to rediscover who you are beyond your challenging experience. Hope is one of the most important feelings when working on recovering from trauma but there is a way and there is beauty in the world.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this article or any of the other articles you’ve read on this site and let me know if there are any topics you’re particularly interested in reading about. Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

References:

Trauma and Relationships. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2014.

Glassman, S. (2005, January 1). Glassman Psychological Services, LLC – Trauma and Relationships. Retrieved September 26, 2014, from http://www.glassmanpsyd.com/trauma-and-relationships/