Accidents, whether it’s in the form of a car accident, an accident at work, or any other form of traumatic event, can have a lasting physical and emotional impact. When you’ve been involved in a traumatic event, doctors, friends, and family tend to focus on fixing the obvious physical injuries but can neglect the emotional scars.
In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at accident trauma. What is it? How to recognize the symptoms and what to do if you, or a loved one, is suffering from accident trauma.
What is the Definition of Accident Trauma?
While there is no hard and fast definition of accident trauma, it can generally be defined as the distress experienced by someone recovering from a traumatic accident of some kind. The trauma is often physical, but it is often the emotional and psychological effects that have the biggest impact on health once wounds have healed. Accident trauma isn’t just about what took place during the events that occurred, but it also refers to how someone is left feeling in the moments, weeks, months, and sometimes years after the accident.
Car accidents are probably one of the most common types of accident trauma experienced all over the world. Drivers, passengers, and even witnesses can be impacted by the event for a long time.
An accident can have a significant impact on a person’s mental health, along with any physical injuries. People suffering from accident trauma can struggle with feelings of worry, fear, and guilt long after the event has occurred. These feelings are often pushed to the side, especially if there are substantial physical injuries to worry about. If they aren’t dealt with, they can cause long-term psychological suffering and even manifest in other physical ways.
What Are the Symptoms of Accident Trauma?
When we experience something traumatic, we can reach a point of emotional dysregulation, which is when our anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed increase. This kind of emotional arousal will activate the flight or fight mechanism in the body. This can cause you to panic or feel terrified as a result of the sympathetic nervous system being overactivated.
This mechanism can easily overwhelm you, causing you to shut down, dissociate from it, and even be crippled/paralyzed by fear. In this state, it’s easy to believe that there is no hope. Unmanaged traumatic experiences can distort reality and make you completely unable to function as you normally would.
Some of the feelings and symptoms associated with accident trauma are as follows:
• Feelings of mental anguish
• Anxiety
• Mood swings
• Bouts of anger
• Fearfulness
• Feelings of humiliation
• Crying
• Sleep issues and nightmares.
• Losing appetite
• Loss of interest in usual activities
Can You Get PTSD From Accident Trauma?
If someone is suffering from emotional trauma after an accident, it’s essential that they deal with their feelings. This type of trauma is serious and can cause extreme disruption in someone’s daily life. Some people can actually develop a mental health condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, also commonly known as PTSD, after being in a traumatic accident.
Accidents, especially violent ones, can be hugely traumatizing and trigger PTSD. The symptoms to keep an eye out for include:
• Intense, recurring memories and flashbacks of the accident,
• Periods of blacking out,
• Nightmares,
• Avoidance of anything that might remind you of the accident or associated events,
• Emotional or physical distress after experiences if unable to avoid a reminder,
• Depression,
• Withdrawal from friends and family,
• Self-harm,
• Suicidal thoughts.
How to Heal from Accident Trauma
There are undoubtedly long-term ramifications associated with accident trauma, and the physical fear after an accident can be debilitating. For example, people who develop a driving phobia after a serious car crash will be limited in how they get to work, transport their family, or simply do daily activities like grocery shopping.
It’s important to deal with accident trauma and its triggers in order to get on the path to recovery:
• Talk about your feelings: Sometimes, others might not realize that you are struggling with accident trauma, especially if they are focused on any physical injuries you may have. Talk to friends and family and your doctor about how you are feeling.
• Don’t be embarrassed about your feelings: Many people hide their feelings when they develop trauma after an accident. There is some stigma attached, especially for men, that requires people to get on with things once they are physically healed. Don’t let this stop you from seeking assistance.
• Seek professional help: There are no two ways about it. Your best chance of dealing with and healing from accident trauma is to seek out the help of a specialist who can lead you on your journey.
The Naked Accident Recovery Program
At Naked Recovery, we have designed a program that specifically helps people deal with and heal from accident trauma. Our trauma-trained therapists specialize in helping people to process traumatic events and regain control of their lives.
We take an evidence-based approach to assist with healing and rehabilitation to help you recover from the effects of a traumatic accident. This four-month coaching/counseling program has been created to help you identify and manage your trauma triggers using the tools, methods, and resources you need to make a complete recovery.
Contact us to find out more about the Naked Accident Recovery Program.
