The reality is that you like everyone else will at some point struggle in life. You may however cope with the blows differently. You may dust yourself off and move forward with wisdom; or you may need a hand to get up and to walk forward in life.
The truth is some of you would stay down much longer and probably need more than a hand to hold. When you go through life and its curve balls and surprises, you tackle the bumps and get bruised.
Physical bruises heal fast, sometimes leaving scars. But emotional bruises take longer to heal, often possibly leaving you in a state of limbo.
Emotional Scars
A traumatic experience – like an accident, a natural disaster, divorce, a sudden death in the family, or a serious illness – is emotionally damaging. When something unexpected happens and you are caught unprepared for it, you could suffer from anxiety and feelings of helplessness.
You may drown in the thought that you don’t have the tools to cope with the event. You could struggle to keep your head afloat. The trauma could be a one-time blow or it could be events repeatedly happening and constantly damaging.
While it will definitely take time to recover, you must hold on to the reality that you’ll eventually have to face. You could allow yourself to go through the process and wallow in the pain, but if the struggle has gone far too long, don’t hesitate to seek help.
By the way, you would know it has gone too far when you could not function properly at home and at work anymore.
There may be moments when you suddenly feel pangs of fear, become anxious, and feel depressed. Your personal relationships start to crumble and you couldn’t maintain or build new ones.
Getting yourself disconnected from the world and distracting yourself with booze or drugs could make everything more disastrous for you. You’d better be ready to look for professional help when you get to this point.
You are a strong person. Believe in that because it’s true. Even when you think the world is conspiring against you, you already have in you the tools to say “screw you, world” and make your life better.
Start with these 9 tips on how to recover from emotional damages.
- Do not do this alone. Isolating yourself from those who can help will just make things worse. Spending too much time alone will set off depression and leave you more damaged.
- Talk it out. Trust in the love of your family and friends. Find someone you can listen to like a counselor or a pastor.
- Socialize. Do things with other people. Disconnecting yourself from the world will not do you any good. Reconnect with healthy friends and make the connections work for you.
- Look for a support group and find strength together.
- Help yourself by helping another person go through the same struggles.
- Keep yourself healthy.
- Establish a routine you could follow and inject bits of fun into it occasionally.
- Tackle projects, jobs, tasks and be joyful in the achievements you make, big or small.
- Indulge yourself in a hobby.
At the end of the day, when the emotions run high, allow them to pour out. If you feel like crying, do so. Accept that you are going through the motions and all these are a part of the recovery process.