Mental shock or state of affect. How to recover from severe stress and remove the consequences

10.10.2019

Natalya Luchina

What is shock trauma

Until misfortune touches us, we tend to live in the illusion that the world safe and we are in control of our lives. But real world easily destroys our fantasies, and its impact can injure both our body and psyche. In psychology, there are special kind psychotrauma - shock trauma.

A shock reaction occurs when a person is confronted with an event that they experience as a threat to their own life (or the lives of others - trauma to the observer). Events that can lead to shock injury include: natural disasters, disasters, violence (robbery, rape, etc.), hostilities, sudden loss of loved ones or relatives, operations, many medical interventions, severe incurable diseases, sudden loss social status(divorce, job loss, bankruptcy, etc.). All these events occur suddenly and cause a strong feeling of fear and helplessness in a person. In this case, a special state arises - shock (therefore, the injury is called shock). Shock trauma becomes a turning point in a person's life, dividing life into "before" and "after" trauma.

Consequences of shock injury

The effects of trauma can have a very powerful and devastating effect on a person. This can be suicidal tendencies and addictions, psychosomatic illnesses, split personality, the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). All these disorders do not appear immediately, they can occur only several years after the traumatic event, so it is not always possible to understand their cause. For example, manifestations of PTSD are characterized by anxiety, unreasonable fears, feeling "frozen" (lack of feelings), avoidance of communication, problems with falling asleep, sudden outbursts of irritability, etc.

Mechanism of action of shock injury

During a shock injury, physiological response mechanisms are activated - flight, fight or fading (numbness). When there is no way to avoid or overcome the danger, the body gets into a "dead end" and the body freezes, "freezes". The mouse caught by the cat freezes at this moment. We can see the same process in people in a state of shock. This is an unconscious, physiological defense reaction that we cannot control. Its purpose is to protect us from too strong pain and feelings that cannot be experienced, a kind of "pain relief", anesthesia. Animals, as soon as the threat leaves, come out of this frozen state - they are shaken, and tremble violently, thus releasing the shackled energy, and can continue their ordinary life. People have lost the ability to naturally get out of a frozen state, so we cannot completely return from a traumatic state without special help. Part of the energy remains “bound” in the nervous system, it turns out that the person continues to live, as if the traumatic situation has not yet ended.

Retraumatization

After a shock traumatic event, which was not fully reacted by a person at the bodily level and rethought, he falls into a vicious circle. On the one hand, there is fear and avoidance of both memories of what happened and similar situations reminiscent of the event, and on the other hand, the body feels the need to release the shackled energy. Therefore, situations that repeat the events of the trauma are often unconsciously attracted, as if the person himself attracts dangerous situations. But at the same time, he cannot react differently, the freezing reaction is turned on earlier than the flight / fight reactions, repeated trauma occurs, and the “passive” freezing reaction becomes more and more fixed with each next stressful situation. Traumatic situations accumulate, thus forming a funnel of trauma.

Funnel of injury and funnel of healing

The trauma funnel is a metaphor for the defensive state of a traumatized person when faced with any threatening situation. A traumatic funnel is a whirlpool that absorbs the unrealized energy of fight-flight. When a person is in the funnel of trauma, he experiences fear, dizziness, depression, contraction, loss of strength, cold, heaviness, stiffness, while striving for self-suppression, self-restraint and self-destruction. The state of the trauma funnel eventually begins to arise in situations that objectively do not threaten a person’s life, therefore, often for those around a person’s behavior in the trauma funnel is incomprehensible and inexplicable, as well as for himself. Since instinctive mechanisms are at work during traumatic events, conscious control - our usual "I" is partially or completely absent. We lose control over the situation and over our reactions (many people cannot remember at all what exactly happened at the time of the shock trauma). Such a repeated experience of “losing yourself” gives rise to a feeling of helplessness, self-doubt, a person feels like a victim, experiences great fear, guilt, shame and self-hatred.

However, by working with our bodily sensations, we can avoid falling into the trauma funnel by consciously attracting the healing funnel, when we deliberately switch our attention, look for opposite sensations in our bodily experience - stretching, feeling warm, feeling waves of energy, relaxation, calmness, a feeling of lightness, a sense of present time, etc.

Only being in a resource-safe state of the healing funnel can one gradually discharge the frozen energy of the trauma funnel.

How to help a trauma survivor

One of the most common mistakes is to try to forget as soon as possible, ignore the event, not talk about it, erase it from memory. Thus, we feed the state of shock, do not give the opportunity to complete the situation on the physical and emotional level. Therefore, immediately after the event that caused the shock reaction, as soon as possible, the affected person should:

put in safe place in which his body can relax;
next to him must be people whom he can trust, safe people who are ready to listen to everything that pops up, accept and help to survive natural bodily reactions and strong feelings that are rising.

There is not enough support from relatives because they too have been partly affected by the impact of the trauma. It is important to immediately attract a psychologist. It's good when there is still a system of people you can turn to - friends, neighbors, acquaintances, distant relatives, colleagues at work. The most important thing is not to lose contact with other people, to prevent isolation, withdrawal into oneself. It is important to pronounce, to pronounce what has accumulated, not to keep it to yourself. This is the only way to avoid prolonged exposure to the effects of injury.

How to overcome long-term effects of trauma

If help was not provided in time, and the person already suffers from post-traumatic disorder, only professional help is needed. psychological help. Methods of psychotherapy that help get rid of the consequences of trauma - behavioral therapy, bodynamics, EMDR, existential therapy. In such a situation it is worth difficult task- restore trust in yourself and trust in people, confidence that a person can control both his body and his life.

If you understand that the cause of your problems is the consequences of an injury, your personal activity in recovery is very important. Here are the basic principles to follow:

communication with other people;
contribution to society (to feel needed);
work on personal relationships;
refusal of alcohol and other "painkillers";

The effects of trauma can only be overcome when you experience it physically, emotionally, and understand the impact it has had on you. The moment your life was in danger, you lost control of the situation. But something greater than your personality took control of the situation, and it was only because of that power that you survived. No matter what name you give it - God, the unconscious, higher intelligence, or instinctive nature, but recognizing and trusting this power relieves fear, allows you to believe in yourself, gives a new look at your life and the place of trauma in it, hope for recovery and gaining integrity.

Last update: 18/01/2014

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a severe mental condition that occurs as a result of a severe emotional shock, such as a life threat. This is what happened to a young man named Tony.

Let's look at an example of how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be the result of a single traumatic event.

Tony's childhood was pretty stable. Although his parents divorced when Tony was 8, he, his mother, brothers and sisters all lived together, and his father, who remained in the same city after the divorce, visited them regularly. While studying at school, Tony had some difficulties in mastering the material, because of this he sometimes became discouraged. As a result, his grades were not the best. But this did not interfere with his success in sports, and he always had many friends.

When Tony was 18, he entered military service. Such a decision seemed quite successful, because in this way he could see the world, serve his country, and in the future, perhaps go to college. In many ways, he liked the service - camaraderie, a stable income, in addition, he was seriously interested in the profession of a military signalman.

While serving in Afghanistan, Tony's car was blown up by an improvised explosive device. Everyone who was then in the car died, and Tony himself was seriously injured, including losing an eye. After that, he was sent to the United States, where he almost completely restored his health.

About two years have passed since then. Tony received disability benefits, worked as a tattoo artist and really missed his job, friends and dreams of a future that were not destined to come true. He believed that the consequences of the injury seriously affect his life. He and his girlfriend often quarreled, and once he even threw a glass at her. Tony missed, but the incident made him fearful - which meant he could lose control at any second.

Most of Tony's symptoms are classic post-traumatic stress disorder - he was haunted by memories, very irritable and avoided talking about the explosion and everything related to it as much as possible. But there were other problems that complicated the situation: what is called in psychiatry hypervigilance made him extremely overreact to everything that happened. Attacks of anger often arose as if by themselves, and, as a rule, the young man himself could not understand their causes. In addition, Tony began to feel a craving for loneliness, which was not there before, and, even when he was surrounded by people, he felt isolated and isolated from them. Attention became scattered, memory problems began - Tony began to forget what had happened recently.

At first, Tony was afraid and ashamed to discuss his psychological problems with relatives, so he decided to use the online chat for servicemen who had been in hot spots. There he met many people who not only did not consider him crazy, but also experienced similar symptoms. Several guys have already turned to psychotherapists for help, and this really helped them a lot. Tony decided to follow suit. The therapist explained to Tony from a psychological point of view what happened at the time of the explosion, and how it further affected his body and mind. Tony also learned about seizure triggers and techniques to reduce psychological discomfort.

In the process, Tony remembered that he used to draw well, so the therapist advised him to capture the traumatic event on paper - a few minutes before the explosion, the explosion itself and what happened after. Tony retold his story over and over again until he felt that the memories no longer come by themselves, and when he himself calls them, they are no longer so colorful and scary.

Tony felt relief almost immediately: the symptoms of the disease receded, and he himself was much more able to control himself and his mood. He continued treatment for a few more months to finally get over his temper tantrums and deal with problems in interpersonal relationships. Unfortunately, Tony broke up with his girlfriend, but was able to survive the breakup much easier than he thought. He said he didn't want other veterans to be ashamed of the troubling symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, so he decided to volunteer and work with soldiers returning from trouble spots.

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Everyone periodically encounters strong unpleasant emotions, someone easily copes with their experiences, others startle for months and have nightmares at night, and for some the load is too great and they experience psychological shock. This state, on the one hand, helps to protect the human psyche, preserving and "preserving" it, and on the other hand, in itself is extremely dangerous for mental health.

The manifestations of psychological shock can be encountered at any age, it is especially dangerous for children and adolescents: an unstable psyche cannot always cope with it on its own, and others often underestimate the seriousness of the problem.

Shock is a pathological reaction that develops in response to the action of stimuli on the human body, the strength of which exceeds its compensatory capabilities.

Psychological shock is also an acute, life-threatening condition in which the work of all systems functioning in the body is disrupted.

This state occurs due to too strong emotional experiences, usually negative. It is impossible to determine exactly what events can cause such a reaction. The limits of compensatory possibilities, as well as sensitivity, are different for each person. AT childhood shock can occur due to events that do not seem too scary in adulthood, also a lot depends on the type nervous system, mental health of a person, his emotional state.

Reasons for shock:

Life-threatening situation - catastrophes, fires, natural disasters and other critical situations.
Physical or emotional abuse.
Ill-treatment, beatings.
Severe physical pain due to injury, illness, and so on.
Emotional shock caused by significant events for a person.

Whether or not symptoms of shock occur in a person depends not only on the type and strength of the impact, but also on the constitutional features of his psyche.

Predisposing factors include:

Personality features - psychosis often occurs in psychopathic, hysterical personalities, emotionally unstable, prone to depression and anxiety.
experienced emotional shock or psychological trauma - a shock already experienced, even if it did not cause any visible consequences, can leave a deep imprint in the mind and subconscious of a person. For example, memories of a fire experienced in childhood can cause shock in an adult who suddenly sees a big fire.
craniocerebral trauma, infectious diseases- damage to the nervous system and brain caused by diseases or injuries can also trigger the development of shock.
Intoxication, alcoholism, drug addiction - the use of toxic substances causes death and damage nerve cells and also a general weakening of the organism.
Hormonal diseases - hormonal imbalance in the body leads to dysregulation of the brain and can also become a predisposing factor.
Mental illness - depression, psychosis, neurosis, epilepsy, schizophrenia and other diseases are one of the most important risk factors.
The general weakening of the body - exhaustion, beriberi, chronic fatigue and lack of sleep also often provoke this condition.

Shock Symptoms

Mental shock can manifest itself in different ways. Sometimes it is difficult even for a specialist to immediately make a correct diagnosis or suspect the development of this life-threatening condition.

There are 3 main forms of the disease:

motor excitation
Stupor
Emotional paralysis.

Psychosis is also divided into phases or types, depending on the duration and course of the disease:

Acute psychosis or shock - occurs with severe psycho-emotional trauma, characterized by the maximum manifestation of all the symptoms of shock.
Subacute psychosis - develops more often in a person who has fallen into a severe life situation, which is in a state of constant nervous excitement(for example, in jurisprudence). It can be hysterical psychosis, psychogenic depression, psychogenic paranoid and psychogenic stupor.
Prolonged shock is a character for people with an existing or diagnosed mental pathology. With this form of the disease, hysterical depressions, delusions, pseudo-dementia disorders are noted.

Motor excitation during shock is manifested by inappropriate behavior of a person - he commits a large number of various actions. It can be meaningless, chaotic movements, fussiness, the need to do something all the time. Moreover, movements and actions are meaningless, so during a fire or an accident, a person tramples in one place, waving his arms, screaming, running around the source, but he can neither run away nor take any action to eliminate the problem. It is very difficult to bring a person “to life” in a state of shock; as a rule, he is not available for contact, does not answer questions, does not listen and does not accept instructions.

With the development of stupor, the patient cannot move, he seems to “freeze”, unable to control his own body. The contact is also not available, when trying to get out of this state, motor excitation or aggression.

Emotional paralysis is characterized by the absence of a visible reaction to a situation or experience. The person seems to neither feel nor feel anything. In this case, all reactions are slow, consciousness may be partially absent. This type of reaction is often observed in children and adolescents who have experienced psychological trauma. They seem to “move away” from their own experiences, withdrawing into themselves and not showing emotions.

In addition to changes in the psyche and behavior, emotional shock is manifested by somatic changes: slowing or increased heart rate, profuse sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, involuntary urination and so on.

You can suspect the development of shock in a person by the following symptoms:

Inappropriate behavior
Inability to make productive contact with others
Long stay in one state
somatic manifestations.

Treatment

Treatment of shock depends on the severity of the patient's condition and the nature of the traumatic situation. In severe cases, hospitalization is required, the use of tranquilizers or antipsychotics to remove from a state of shock. Supportive therapy may also be required to stabilize the work of the heart, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract and other organs.

All patients who have experienced a mental shock need further treatment: psychotherapy, work with a psychologist, taking antidepressants and restorative drugs, as well as prevention of traumatic events.