Experiencing any kind of trauma doesn't just get better on its own. It's something we should start to address and continually work on. The longer trauma persists, the more difficult it is to treat.
Trauma if left untreated can develop into panic attacks, mental illness and into post-traumatic stress disorder. Early treatment of mental health issues can lead to better outcomes. (Source: https://wwwhighfocuscenters)
Dealing with Mental Illness
I hope that we kick start into deciding it is time to deal with our mental health. An issue (whether it’s one or many) can turn into mental health illness. It’s not the issue itself that hurts us, it’s our feelings, interpretation and perception of the issues we deal with that hurt us.
I was aware from an early age that I had mental health issues. I have and continue to grapple with anxiety and bad thoughts since I was a small child. Looking back, I can’t believe how long I struggled with issues that continued to pile up.
'Talk out' your issues
Unless you 'talk out' your issues, other interventions can leave you in a worse place. For example, prescribed medication can have undesired side effects. Other reasons can be the stigma we carry with us, the stigma that is associated with dealing with mental health issues, or the embarrassment of having mental health issues.
Mental illness is isolating
Mental illness can be isolating and as a result those feeling isolated may give up without finding the right treatment. Many treatments are based on the individual’s ability to pay for their medication.
Although it’s not always easy to know or understand why someone would say or do something to upset or hurt us, if you can understand why what has happened, you can decide to see the experience differently. It's what I have done.
Although some things are harder to deal with, particularly if those things have been allowed to continue, but with work on ourselves we can turn those things around.
For anyone interested in grabbing copies of either of my books, you can order paper back or Kindle copies on Amazon, or through the following link https://linktr.ee/Ilana_Estelle
Addressing trauma, especially past trauma is one of the most important aspects of mental health and self care, as part of our healing journey. This is so important if we are to avoid long term stress, which can lead to emotional and physical illness.
I am grateful for your blog, which can help us to address all aspects of self-care as part of our healing journey.
Thank you. Yes, I agree with you. I know that without doing the work on myself, I would still be struggling to deal with and come to terms with my own trauma.
Trauma is either one of those things you fail to recognise and therefore don't deal with it, or you understand it and choose to ignore it, because it's either too raw, or too difficult to deal with.
Dealing with trauma around mental health issues, is important if we are to live our lives free of mental and emotional pain and if we are to avoid illness.
In the pandemic, we have collectively been dealing with trauma. While we can only deal with our own trauma, I hope others will either start or continue to deal with theirs.
As you say, my website can help, as can both my books.