Recent events reminded me that a sudden traumatic event sends your life into a tailspin. A late night call suddenly forced my wife and I to quickly change our plans.
The direction and flow of our lives took a jarring sudden turn. We found ourselves suddenly jerked in a different direction than we were headed.
Rather than taking a relaxing drive through the Smoky Mountains, we found ourselves rushing to Clear Lake Medical Center in Webster, Texas to see family members who were in an accident. Events were moving so fast that we found ourselves forgetting to eat and drink at times.
So we were surrounded by stressful events on the outside and sending our bodies into shock on the inside. Wave after wave of adrenaline takes its toll.
The sudden change of events hit us like an unexpected sharp turn on a freeway. It caught us by surprise and just reacting without doing much thinking. We found ourselves in trauma mode. Things had to be repeated to us several times before the information sunk in. We also found ourselves riding that emotional roller coaster between moods.
Even when we were finally away from the situation, it was difficult to calm down. Although traumas come on fast, they don’t leave as fast as they arrive. The effects stick around long after the triggering event is over.
Your reaction to the affair may have caught you unprepared as well. You suddenly found yourself facing situations and decisions you never imagined. You feel things that you didn’t know you were capable of.
Calming yourself down after a traumatic event presents a challenge. After you’ve made it through the toughest part, you still stay on alert. It shows up in the form of difficulty sleeping, decreased appetite, trouble thinking straight and general restlessness.
Once you’re in trauma mode, you can get stuck. Being stuck there is a miserable place to be. You stay ‘on alert’ when you want to relax. Trauma mode can happen to the cheater or the betrayed. It is not limited to one or the other. If anything, both of you are likely stressed out, but not realizing the extent of it.
If you are stuck in the ‘trauma state’, the video, “Overcoming Affair Trauma” guides you through the process of coming back to normal. You need extra help when you’ve been stuck there for a while.
In the video, you’ll learn ways of coming back to who you were before all the upheaval.
Best Regards,
Jeff
