Here are some typical reactions that an individual may
experience following a traumatic or highly stressful event
that overwhelms his or her usual coping mechanisms:
- Hypervigilance – the heightened awareness of one’s surroundings
- Being easily startled, often with an exaggerated startle response
- Increased irritability and proneness to anger
- Sleep disturbances – difficulty falling asleep due to ruminative thinking or worrying, frequent waking, or excessive sleep
- Difficulties with concentration and memory
- Being thirsty
- Various levels of dissociation, including:
- Nightmares or night terrors
- Flashbacks – varies mild intrusive thoughts to full re-experiencing
- Emotional numbing
- Ruminative thoughts of the event or frequent recollections of the event
- Avoidance
- Lack of energy and low motivation
- Heightened vulnerability to illness
- Emotional memories – where the body is triggered, at times unknowingly, to re-experience the emotion of the event
- Re-enacting the event – choosing behaviors that, knowingly or unknowingly, recreate the event
- Body reactions – shaking, sweating, numbness in limbs, racing heart, difficulty breathing, especially when re-triggered (anxiety symptoms)
- Avoidance of social or interpersonal activity – prevents overload of person’s systems
- Hyperactivity to distract oneself from ruminative thinking
- Drinking or taking drugs to sleep or avoid nightmares and flashbacks
- Emotional constriction – difficulty in feeling both positive and negative emotions
- Loss of libido
- Obsessive-compulsive behaviours – in order to provide a false sense of control over one’s environment
- Feelings of demoralization, helplessness, guilt and hopelessness
- Loss of personal identity or loss of spirit
- Mistrust of others, heightened fear of previously enjoyed activities
- Dysphoria – an emotional state where nothing seems to matter
- A sense of detachment from activities and other people
- Self-destructive behaviours or tension-reduction behaviour including drinking, drugs, and risk-taking
- Impulsive behaviour
- Concentration and/or memory problems