What is trauma?

Trauma is a condition where the person is deeply affected emotionally or mentally by the occurrence of events which creates an impact on the person’s life. It eventually overwhelms a person’s ability to cope with circumstances by engulfing him/her in a feeling of helplessness, and impairs his/her ability to handle emotions. In difficult times like these, getting over emotional trauma is the art you need to learn and master to keep yourself healthy and motivated. 

Sadness, anger, fear and denial are some emotional signs which can help you understand that you are going through something which can be more troublesome if not taken care of. These emotional signs can further lead to insomnia, sleep apnoea, emotional outbreaks, anxiety, depression, dissociative disorders, substance abuse etc.

Traumas are broadly classified as “Capital t (T) trauma” and “Small t (t) trauma. Capital T trauma can be fatal whereas small t trauma is not fatal and can be cured with mild medication.

Covid-19 has created an environment of panic and vulnerability where people are locked up in their homes dealing with problems they are not aware of or prepare for. Work and corporate culture has done a complete turnaround where corporates are encouraging work from home culture for their employees and on the other side employees find it challenging to work from home because of the lack of efficiency and ability to concentrate.

Healing trauma 

Here are a few steps one can follow for healing:

Restrict the use of social media

Social media is the new influencing agent in this digital age but excess use of it can also result in stress and anxiety. Scrolling down the media and news can create more panic in your head. Try to reduce updating yourself with Covid news to no more than twice a day. Follow social media pages and channels which help you cope with your mental and physical health. 

Create a support system

Getting a support system for yourself when you are away from home is essential to maintain mental peace whereas becoming someone’s support system is also a way to maintain a normalised situation among friends and family. This can be done by comforting and connecting with each other through video calls, text messages or just a phone call. It will help you as well as your friends to survive this pandemic more effortlessly. 

Follow a routine and keep time for your passions

You can set a routine where you get time for activities you love and time to work as well. Routines after some time can be monotonous, so you can make weekly routines and try to make some changes for the following weeks. Following a proper routine can help increase productivity.

Maintain a balanced diet

Maintaining a balanced diet is necessary in order to keep yourself healthy. Due to stress you crave a lot of junk food because of which you intake a lot of carbs. Good Nutrition helps us mentally, physically and emotionally. An old English proverb says, “Don’t dig your grave with your own knife and fork”. It simply signifies that it’s very important to consume healthy food in order to reduce stress.

Confine your work space at home

A lot of people are facing a lot of problems and difficulties while working from home. People can subdue it by confining their workspace to a specific area where they feel they are more productive and efficient. Set targets for each day and try to finish it according to the set deadlines.

Following these tips can help you vanquish such strenuous circumstances by yourself. But there might be times when your problems might become overwhelming to the point that these might not help you anymore. Whenever you feel this way, it is highly recommended to seek guidance from a professional who can help you with the right and correct measures for you. This becomes even more important now as Covid is affecting us in an unprecedented manner. According to a study, the majority of people dealing with mental issues amidst this pandemic are dealing with acute traumatic stress because of continuous media coverage of Covid and vulnerability to get affected by the virus. We need to accept the fact that the pandemic’s going to last for months and the world might change in certain ways. Hence it is important to understand the circumstances, remain calm and to deal with your emotional health in a constructive and proactiv