Recognizing Emotional Trauma in Yourself and Others

This Blog Contains:

Introduction
Billy LAx – Chief Editor
Main Points
Recognizing Emotional Trauma
Take Care of You

Introduction

I realized this morning that I need to make posts on this site related to my trauma research and background evergreen. It is very hard to recover from trauma. It wasn’t a good feeling. It’s terrible to know that I repeatedly need to share my knowledge about trauma because preventable, major traumatic events keep happening. But here we are. Once again, I must help inform my journalist friends about recognizing emotional trauma in yourself and others in your newsroom or your life.

“Journalists are more likely to be exposed to trauma at work than most people are to be exposed at all”

Billy LAx – Chief Editor

Laid-off are the thousands of non-essential employees who worked behind the scenes and now collect the unemployment they earned. Or maybe that contract employee who was in between productions at the time of the pandemic and not eligible for unemployment compensation. Or that extremely nervous character actor who watches the phone not ring with those vital phone calls that put a rent check in the pocket.

Even if you are lucky enough to still be working, you spend your working day worrying about when the job will end, or taking crap from the boss because there isn’t another opportunity across the street like there use to be. So how do we handle this nightmare? Shall we do as the young and faint of heart would have us do? Or maybe we should do a 360, carrying a full contingent of facemasks, disinfectants, social distancing measurement rules, and a little book full of virus shaming quotes incase needed. Since the latter choice is the one most implemented in the film industry, lockdown and unemployment will probably be with us throughout 2020 and most likely through 2021.

Main Points

Adjustment Disorder. The first level of emotional trauma is an adjustment disorder. We’ve all experienced this type of psychological response to a stressor. It’s when we have difficulty adjusting after something traumatic happens, but we can continue on relatively well with our daily lives. For example, your grandparent dies. You’re sad, and you miss them, but you’re also able to work and function. You think about your sadness less often as time goes on.
Acute Stress Disorder. The second level of emotional trauma is ASD. Symptoms of ASD last more than a week but generally are gone within three months. You have trauma symptoms, but you can still function pretty well.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The third and most significant level of emotional trauma is PTSD. PTSD is a severe form of emotional trauma that keeps you from functioning in your daily life. Its diagnosis requires specific symptoms that must last more than a month. ASD frequently becomes PTSD.

Now that you know about these levels, it’s vital to understand how to cope with them. First, if you’re exposed to trauma, debrief. Talk to someone about how you’re feeling and processing your experience. Talk to them every day if you need to until you get through the adjustment. If you aren’t adjusting, seek professional help immediately. Trauma is unlikely to go away. You need someone to help you make sense of the experience and its aftermath on your emotional health.

Getting the needed help as soon as possible so trauma symptoms don’t become more severe is why it’s critical to be able to recognize trauma symptoms in yourself and others.

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Recognizing Emotional Trauma

There’s not a standard script for how people respond to trauma. Some people scream and sob, while others laugh uncontrollably. They’re all natural responses to a happening beyond what you can imagine experiencing. But there is a set of symptoms that indicate trauma. You should be able to recognize them in yourself and others.

Take Care of You

Above all, remember that you’re expected to feel. It doesn’t make you any less professional, and it doesn’t say anything about your journalistic abilities. It says that you’re human. Take care of yourself and each other. And please reach out to me if I can help.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above (typically those to books) may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I promise that I only recommend products or services I use personally and think will provide you value. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”