#trauma-recovery

#trauma-recovery

The women in Krystal's family have always been funny, she says; her mother was no exception. But as well as being hilarious she also struggled with mental illness, and life in Krystal's childhood was chaotic. With very little money, the family would move from place to place, Krystal would miss months of school and often be left to take care of her younger sister alone.

My eyes zero in on a red door, its frame one of the few surviving remnants of a home. I pull it closer to me, and in moments I see a fraction of the house as it once was - now I'm in a cozy kitchen with blurred but welcoming pictures in the background and a grandfather celebrating a birthday. A voice-over tells me that it was Alexander, a grandfather, who painted the door red.

[Narrator] Developing tools to overcome trauma. When we began to become confident that we really had identified something real, this resilience trajectory I've talked about, we've identified it in many studies at this point. It's been identified convincingly in the majority and over 100 research studies by other people than myself, lots of other people. So it's very much a real thing.

Ms Boobier was supported by Day One Trauma Support, which said it helped 2,400 people last year, with demand still increasing. Day One Trauma Ms Boobier now works as a physiotherapist with people who have had amputations at Charing Cross Hospital in London. She said she had recommended Day One to her patients in Reading but took advantage of its help after the accident.

Still, we all felt pretty apprehensive heading into this living arrangement. For one, our lifestyles were quite different: My husband and I had been empty nesters for the past decade, and we had routine sleep and mealtimes. Meanwhile, they were young parents with a small child and a baby on the way - a lot of their schedules depended on seasonal and weekly activities.

She was smoking on the terrace with three friends when Islamic State group jihadists gunned down 21 people. The memory of the "terrifying silence" between the two bursts of gunfire still lingers. Eva was hit by multiple bullets on the left side of her body, including her foot. Her leg had to be amputated below the knee. Today, Eva, who wears a prosthesis, says she is doing "pretty well", even if "life isn't easy every day".

People often associate asking for help with weakness or a loss of agency and control. It requires a lot of vulnerability to admit when we're struggling and need a hand. Yet, no one makes it all the way through their life without having needs. At one time or another, hardship finds all of us. Whether it's an illness or injury, financial stress, career troubles, emotional pain, or loneliness, we all struggle. It's what makes us human.

As I've shared before, when I was 12, I was playing at a friend's house one hot August afternoon when I was told I was needed at home. As I turned into my long driveway, I saw the lights of an ambulance, a stretcher being loaded into the back. The doors slammed shut. The whirling lights threw red streaks across the oaks as it sped past me out of our driveway. No one noticed the small, pale, immobilized girl standing by the mailbox.

I was twenty-two when I pulled my car across six lanes of traffic in Delaware. I should've made a right, circled around, and waited for the light. Instead, I aimed straight for the median, a shortcut I'd taken a dozen reckless times before. Headlights came at me fast. Then the slam: metal folding into metal, my body flung sideways, glass exploding. I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. If I had been, I believe the door would have cut me in half.

"I had to let myself feel the pain, the grief, the gratitude of being given my life back. The thought of almost dying while doing something I loved was unimaginable...I don't know if fate is real or not, or if there is truth behind destiny, but I do believe that everything that happens in life provides an opportunity."

Despite the support from friends and family, Simon Meyer’s victims are grappling with lifelong trauma after enduring his sexual abuse and secret filming.

Healing thrives in supportive environments where personal journeys intertwine with communal processes. This collective aspect is crucial for effective recovery from trauma.

I'd been commitment-phobic most of my adult life. I had almost gotten married in my early 20s, calling off the wedding just a month before the big day. The experience of breaking up with someone I had thought I'd spend my life with was traumatic, and left me with serious commitment issues.

Sankalpa is a sacred vow to remember one's essential nature and live in alignment with it, not merely a resolution to fix what is perceived as broken.

Exercise is essential for physical and mental health, promoting mitochondrial function and BDNF, vital for emotional regulation and overall wellbeing.