Title: How to Cope with Traumatic Events - HelpGuide.org
Headings: How to Cope with Traumatic Events
How to Cope with Traumatic Events
Any traumatic event—from a personal tragedy to a global crisis—can take an emotional toll and cause traumatic stress. But there are ways to regain control of your life.
The emotional response to traumatic events
Signs and symptoms of traumatic stress
Emotional symptoms of traumatic stress include:
Physical symptoms include:
What’s the difference between traumatic stress and PTSD?
Dealing with traumatic stress
If you’re a first responder or medical worker
Coping with trauma tip 1: Minimize media exposure
Tip 2: Accept your feelings
Dealing with painful emotions
Tip 3: Challenge your sense of helplessness
Tip 4: Get moving
Tip 5: Reach out to others
Reaching out when you’re cut off from others
Tip 6: Make stress reduction a priority
How to feel grounded when you’re traumatized
Tip 7: Eat and sleep well
Get enough quality sleep
When to seek professional treatment
If your child has been traumatized …

Content: While helping others at their time of greatest need can be extremely rewarding, it also involves many challenges and stressors. Witnessing tragedy and suffering, making life-and-death decisions, even placing yourself in harm’s way, can take a toll on your mental health and cause traumatic stress. And since you may have to repeatedly deal with the aftermath of traumatic events over the course of your career, the emotional impact can snowball over time. If the stress is left unchecked, it can lead to burnout, a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. It’s important to remember that taking care of your own needs is not selfish, even at a time of crisis. Rather, it’s a necessity. After all, by allowing yourself to take breaks, leaning on others for support, and working in teams rather than alone for long periods, you’ll have the energy and fortitude to better help others in need. Coping with trauma tip 1: Minimize media exposure
While some survivors or witnesses of a traumatic event can regain a sense of control by watching media coverage of the event or by observing the recovery effort, others find that the reminders are further traumatizing. Excessive exposure to images of a disturbing event—such as repeatedly viewing video clips on social media or news sites—can even create traumatic stress in people not directly affected by the event, or cause those who were to be retraumatized.