How complex trauma exhausts us: Therapist explains
From flashbacks to dissociation, here are a few reasons why complex trauma exhausts us.
Complex trauma refers to constant exposure to traumatic events. From childhood trauma to past experiences can together lead to the impact of complex trauma in the mind and body. Complex PTSD (Complex post-traumatic stress disorder) is the disorder where a person experiences certain symptoms of PTSD along with other complexities, such as difficulty in controlling their emotions or being distrustful towards everyone surrounding them. Complex trauma can affect and exhaust us with its harmful impact. " How complex trauma exhausts us... yes, this is very real. Naps are wonderful," wrote Therapist Linda Meredith. Here are a few ways in which complex trauma can exhaust us.
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Flashbacks: The flashbacks of past events can keep replaying in the mind and can have same impact as the first time on us. This can keep us drained and make us refrain from being present in the moment.
Dissociation: We constantly feel dissociated from reality and hence we are unable to incorporate a healthy routine in our lifestyle to keep us healthy and fit.
Repeating patterns: We are not aware of the language and the information needed to start the process of healing. Hence, we keep falling back into the repeating toxic patterns.
Anxiety: Constant feeling of being overwhelmed and anxiety can make us lose sleep. This can further lead to feeling exhausted all the time.
Hypervigilance: We are constantly scrutinising the behaviour patterns of others to understand if we are at fault. This constant hypervigilance can make us feel drained.
Guilt, shame: We are always drowning in feelings of guilt, shame, regret and grief. This further takes a toll on our central nervous system.
Trauma: The trauma can make us isolated from others. Even though we are wired to be social beings, we self-isolate ourselves from our surroundings. This further makes us feel lonely.