From Fear to Healing: Understanding Trauma and Effective Coping Strategies
Spiders, heights, confined spaces. Rational, physical fears we learn as we grow up. Fears however, are emotional responses directed at triggering situations. When an event occurs in our lives that scar us, does the scar ever really go away? Or does it hide in plain sight, following closely as our shadow that doesn’t leave after sunset. That is the point where fear stops, and trauma takes its ugly place. In a world often preoccupied with visible scars, we tend to overlook the unseen wounds carried by individuals who have faced trauma. These wounds, deep and profound, may not be visible to the naked eye, but their impact reverberates through every aspect of a person’s life.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is defined as an experience that produces psychological injury or pain. Trauma can stem from a wide range of experiences, including but not limited to physical violence, sexual abuse, natural disasters, accidents, war, or witnessing other traumatic events. The impact in which a traumatic event can pose on a person varies in intensity from person to person, leaving deep psychological wounds that have lasting effects on numerous aspects of a person’s life. An event can be so triggering to a point where emotions, behaviours and relationships can all suffer just from a person’s incapability to cope with their lowered sense of safety, security and well-being.
Coping With Trauma
As impactful as never having experienced the epic highs and lows of high school football can be, everyone has their own form of a coping mechanism that helps them navigate the psychological and emotional impact of trauma. Although the effectiveness of a coping mechanism can differ from person to person depending on factors ranging from the nature and severity of trauma to support systems, research and clinical evidence have exhibited positive results on trauma survivors. As we delve into a spectrum of coping mechanisms, some more commonly observed than the rest, admire the power of resilience that individuals have discovered through their own unique ways of healing.
Humour & Relatability
Tiktok has been striving as well as it has with a big part thanks to the personalised videos that the “For You” page presents to us with every scroll. This proves that relatability strikes a chord within a majority of people, allowing us to use humour as a coping mechanism for trauma involving laughter, lightheartedness and relatable content. The temporary escape that allows people to momentarily shift their focus to more light and entertaining feelings leads to a much-needed break from trauma’s ugly shadow. What’s more is when we see others around the world on the same boat as us, it helps us realise that we are not alone in our struggles and our feelings toward an event is valid. The shift in perspective that humour provides, shining an optimistic light on our trauma can help us find the irony or alternative viewpoints that reduce the heaviness the trauma left us with.
Support Systems
Personally, the coping mechanism I find most effective is screaming voice messages into the group chat with my most trusted friends, letting out my most unhinged thoughts and opinions on the situation. Only then can I return to being a sane human with rational thoughts and assure my friends that my inner demon has been tamed and locked away until the next time my situationship finds a new way to irritate me to my limits. A good support system can prove imperative to dealing with trauma, whether it be friends, cousins or parents. Having somebody to vent to provides comfort, understanding and distress when dealing with turbulent waters. My friends often take away from my traumatic rants as a learning experience, receiving guidance and advice is a two way street when you have a safe space to relieve from trauma. It can be a collaborative master plan to tackle the problem or merely the presence of a close figure that can break the torture that a traumatic event has caused you. If you relate to me where screaming into a pillow and stress-writing in your journal does not do the trick, give my voice message method a try and watch all your worries falter away.
Nature-Based Therapy
There are times where a night out, group chat drama, or a horrifying movie has scarred you so deep that you just need to go out and touch some grass. An example of an uncommon coping mechanism is nature-based therapy, which involves intentionally immersing yourself in natural settings and engaging in activities that promote connection with the natural world. The sounds of waves crashing on a beach, the view from the top of a rejuvenating hike, or if you’re lucky enough, feeding the ducks at your campus’ manmade lake can enhance the therapeutic experience. The scenery and sounds have proven to reduce stress, anxiety and depression while increasing feelings of relaxation and well-being. The release of hormones such as endorphins, that act as natural painkillers, and serotonin, that regulates the mood, can contribute to the overall positive effects of nature-based therapy. This process can help people find solace, inspiration and clarity on their troubles, healing the impact of trauma from within. Sometimes it’s just vital to put your phone on Do Not Disturb and bask in the warmth of the sun to forget about your problems, even if just for a minute.
Rituals & Ceremonies
A common experience among my family members and I is to visit our family ustad whenever there has been too much negative energy surrounding us as of late. A miscarriage, a car accident, or a toxic person that has come into our lives; a small prayer by our ustad has been observed to make my aunties feel that much more at peace with their trauma. Among certain religions and cultures, rituals and ceremonies are performed to reduce the psychological effect of trauma on an individual. They provide a structured framework that acknowledges significant life changes, helping people navigate emotional and social aspects associated with them. They can also serve as a means of healing and emotional expression, creating a designated space and time for individuals to process emotions, release pain, or find closure. Regardless of whether you believe in these religious or cultural practices, the activity of feeling like you have just been rid of negative energy is enough to start with your healing process.
The common and uncommon variations of coping mechanisms have been noted, to reiterate my question, does the scar of psychological trauma ever heal? Or are we simply forced to learn to live with it? To answer that, trauma never entirely goes away. You can carry that scar with you for the rest of your life, it can shape who you are and be with you forever. In spite of that, while the scar may always be there, healing and rebuilding is indeed possible. Healing is a complex journey, it requires time, self-compassion, and support from others. To be a little unserious, these traumatic instances may simply be the ‘canon events’ in your life that you need to undergo for character development. While the scar remains, it does not define you and you hold the power to reclaim your life, find meaning in your experiences, and create a future filled with resilience, strength, and newfound wisdom.
“Scars are not signs of weakness, but rather evidence of strength and resilience.”
[Written by: Nurul Yasmine. Edited by: Teoh Jin]
