Avoiding Traumatized Experiences, According To Experts: Blocking Healing

Illustration according to experts on trauma healing (Freepic)

YOGYAKARTA Avoids traumatic experiences, called denial trauma, which is a defense mechanism to protect oneself from emotional pain. On the advantageous side, trauma denial serves as a shield that separates mental and emotional aspects of traumatic events. But this doesn't help much in the trauma healing process.

According to psychologist at Yardley, Pennsylvania, Sabina Mauro, denial trauma may be useful in the short term. This allows people who survived trauma to stand up and bounce back. However, like wearing old shoes, comfort is only temporary and in the end it will be damaged if it is not immediately replaced with a new perspective.

"Continuous trauma rejection causes more suffering than it should be. While trauma survivors may learn how to suppress unpleasant experiences in their past, their bodies and minds will continue to carry them until such trauma is faced," Sabina explained as quoted by Positive Psychology, Monday, October 30.

Trauma itself, is an emotional response when experiencing, or watching, events or a series of troubling events. Some experiences related to trauma include accidents, childhood abuse, domestic violence, loss of loved ones, natural disasters, sexual assault, torture, and war. After a person experiences certain traumatic experiences, the person may experience anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, personality disorders, fights, and substance use disorders.

Although avoiding traumatic experiences helps minimize the impact a little, but by burying, pressing, and avoiding, trauma is unresolved. There are many benefits of denial trauma, such as helping to avoid pain, living the next life, maintaining loyalty, surviving in difficult situations, and protecting self-esteem.

The problem is by denying until you acknowledge and recognizing trauma as it is, you deny your own experience. Denial of trauma ultimately creates an obstacle to the ability to treat it," said Meagan Turner, a licensed therapist at Tucker, Georgia.

To deal with trauma, maybe the process takes time. It's not impossible, but if it's resolved it will reduce the burden. Experts say, to start healing and manage denialal avoidance or trauma behavior, it is necessary to get help both from professionals and those closest to you. Therapy to deal with trauma, can be with fun. Like art and other expression modalities to deal with trauma.