Phoenix Australia > Your Recovery > Effects of Trauma – Life & Relationships

YOUR RECOVERY | EFFECTS OF TRAUMA

Life & Relationships

Experiencing a traumatic event can significantly impact family, social and work life. It is normal to feel a range of strong emotions after trauma, but if emotions remain intense and are causing problems it is a good idea to seek some help.

Managing emotions

People can experience a range of strong emotional reactions after a traumatic event. It’s important to remember that there is no ‘right’ or expected way to respond and people can react in many different ways.

A person might become irritable with others, particularly family members. While anger is a common reaction to trauma, if a person continues to feel angrier than usual a couple of weeks after the trauma, this can seriously impact their relationships and family life.

Grief is also common after trauma and includes a wide range of feelings, thoughts and behaviours that are reactions to an experience of loss. While we usually think of grief as related to the loss of a loved one, the loss might be something such as one’s health or home. Despair or loneliness are other common feelings following a loss.

Sometimes feelings can become so intense or distressing that the person finds it difficult to manage. If emotions are overwhelming and don’t improve over time, they can impact upon a person’s ability to work, their relationships with others and their ability to function in their day-to-day life. If emotions remain intense and are causing problems, this could mean that a mental health issue is developing. If this is happening, it is a good idea to see a GP for advice and, potentially, treatment.

Relationships

Following a traumatic event, the emotional distress experienced can make it difficult to relate to others. This might mean that a person withdraws from family and friends, stops attending social activities, becomes overprotective, or has difficulty expressing or managing emotions.

Work

Returning to work after a traumatic event can be difficult, but returning to your normal routine will help you feel your life is getting back on track. A health practitioner can provide information on where to get practical support. This can be important even if the problem seems mild. It is generally easier to prevent a problem from getting worse than trying to manage it once it has a significant impact on your life.

Issues with life and relationships can make it harder to come to terms with the trauma that you’ve been through. If you have been struggling with life and relationships for more than two weeks, book an appointment with your GP or a mental health professional.

Treatment options: Life & Relationships

There are a number of treatment options to help you manage if you’re struggling with life and relationships after a traumatic event.

Talking to your GP

Talking to a trusted GP is often a good place to start if you’re struggling with the impacts of a traumatic event on your mental health. Your GP can provide you with treatment directly, or they can refer you on to other services that might be helpful, including counselling services.

How to talk to your GP about mental health
  • The most important first step is finding a GP that you feel comfortable talking to about your mental health.
  • If you have a regular GP, check in with yourself about whether you feel comfortable talking to your them about how you are feeling or the traumatic event you have experienced.
  • If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your regular GP, you may wish to reach out to a new medical practice. They may offer friendly staff, longer consultation times, the option for remote or face-to-face appointments. Depending on what will make you feel more comfortable, and anything else you feel will help you be able to chat about your mental health with a GP.
  • It may help you to think about what you would like to talk about with your GP, perhaps writing a list of concerns and questions to bring with you to your appointment.
  • Ahead of your appointment, you may wish to ask about the cost, and if the practice is bulk-billed or if there will be an appointment fee.
  • If at any point you find that you don’t understand what your GP is telling you, it’s important you feel safe to speak up and let them know you need more details and that they need to explain something again.

Some questions you may wish to ask as a starting point during your appointment are:

  • What do you think is happening in terms of the impacts of the traumatic event on my mental health?
  • What do you feel are the best options for me in terms of next steps to feeling better?
  • Is there anything I can do in the short term to feel better and manage the impacts of the traumatic event on my life? Quick and simple strategies?
  • Can you tell me about the cost of further appointments or treatments?
  • How would different treatment options help me?
  • If I seek out counselling or a therapist to talk more about the impacts of trauma on my life and relationships, am I eligible for a mental health care plan?

Counselling

A counsellor is a trained professional with whom you can form a close relationship. They have been trained to offer a range of different types of assistance, with talk-based therapy being the most common. They can help provide support and skills to help you cope with the impacts of a traumatic event on your life and relationships. They can also help you determine if you’re experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD or detrimental alcohol and substance use and point you in the direction of further help if needed.

 

What can I expect during a counselling session?

During your counselling session, you will begin the process of talking about and working through, the issues in your life and relationships that have resulted from experiencing a traumatic event. The counsellor will help you to address these issues in a positive way. They will work with you to clarify the issues, explore your options (including further treatment options) and develop strategies to cope better in day-to-day life and increase yourself-awareness. You might find that even just the process of sharing your story with your counsellor and being heard helps you to feel better.

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