Dealing with traumatic events

A horrific shooting took place last month in Liege that left the city and, indeed, the nation in shock. It happened right across from one of Pulso's loyal customers. In light of this, we felt that it would be appropriate to shed some light on the consequences of traumatic events like this to make more people aware of the impact and to allow them to scan their own lives for possible effects they might be experiencing following this or any other (personally) traumatic event.

Such events can have an impact on an emotional, physical and behavioural level, making it feel like you're being sucked into an abyss. You can experience one or more signals inside yourself. If you recognise your situation in any of the following, don't crop it up but go to your GP, internal medical or social service, or contact the Employee Assistance Programme on the phone number below. If you notice any of the signals with one of your colleagues, speak to them about it and, if needed, refer them to the above channels.

Traumatic events that you have experienced often have a dramatic impact on your daily functioning. The emotions these events evoke, such as grief, fear, anger or even hatred, take a firm hold of you and it is often difficult to find any room to breathe or a balance in life to help you recover. First and foremost, it is important to know and understand that what are going through is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Pushing the consequences you're feeling aside usually adds to the emotion and pushes you in a direction you really don't want to go. We've listed some of the emotional responses you can experience:

• You feel guilty about things you did or things you didn't do, or you feel a sense of guilt because you seem to have come out of the situation better than others who were involved.
• You have a feeling of helplessness, no longer capable of keeping your feelings or thoughts, or even your whole life, under control.
• A frequent feeling of wanting to burst into tears.
• Anger about what happened, angry about the cause of your heavy emotional burden you suddenly have to carry.
• Overwhelmed by a huge sense of injustice.
• It could be that you have a feeling of not finding enough support with the people around you, and you therefore become more isolated.

After a traumatic event, you can sometimes experience one or more physical responses. It is important that you detect these responses as quickly as possible, so you can also treat them properly. We've listed possible physical responses you may recognise. If other physical complaints suddenly come to the surface after the event, however, it is quite likely that they are also part of this list:

• Stress complaints, headache and muscle ache
• Restlessness
• Problems concentrating both at work and at home, for example by making more mistakes, needing more time for day-to-day tasks, or daydreaming more frequently.

• Thinking that you've become numb inside
• Sleeping issues: you might experience a change in your sleeping pattern, such as difficulty falling asleep, waking up extremely early or having nightmares.
• Flashbacks of the event: these can be visual images and can appear out of nowhere through other sensations such as tastes and sounds.
• More sensitive to loud noises or sudden movements, especially if they remind you of your terrible experience.
• Loss of appetite or binge eating.

You might also experience changes in your behaviour after such a traumatic event. If these changes you have noticed continue, it is important that you take the necessary steps to get help in time, for instance through your GP or the EAP. Possible behavioural changes that might occur are:

• Feelings of anxiety to return to the place where it happened.
• Being extremely sensitive to certain things that remind you of the incident and trying to avoid them.

• Losing interest in things you previously enjoyed doing, or in social activities.
• Changes in your libido.
• Loss of interest in your daily routine.
• Lower self-esteem and loss of confidence in your own ability to deal with the problem.
• Feeling irritable quickly.
• Increase in the consumption of alcohol.

What can you do if you experience physical or behavioural changes after being a victim of a traumatic event? Give yourself enough time to give the event a place. In many cases, these responses and changes will go away by themselves, bearing in mind that self-care and support from one's own environment are healing factors. If these changes do turn out to be permanent, or if they have been affecting your life for a long time (several weeks), we recommend that you look into what the Employee Assistance Programme can do for you to receive the psychological support you need. Our psychologists or therapists can help you get through these difficult and trying times, so you don't have to do it all on your own. We'd like to leave you with a few more useful tips:

• Remind yourself that it's normal to feel the way you do after a traumatic experience.
• If you can, speak about the incident with others: other victims, people who were involved, family and friends or professionals who can help.
• Do not consume too much alcohol - excessive use of alcohol can quickly cause matters to get out of hand.

• Be conscious of an overdrive. It can be damaging to do too many activities because it diverts the attention from the help you really need.
• Don't take on more than you can handle, give yourself time to find yourself again.
• Focus on rest and relaxation by doing things that can help you recover mentally and physically.
• Stay in touch with the people you are closest to. Contacts can help avoid the loneliness that so many people experience after a traumatic event.
• Try, as best you can, to return to a normal life.
• Try not to avoid memories altogether. Total avoidance of the experience and the associated memories can obstruct the healing process.
• Remind yourself that this phase will pass. The majority of people who have experienced traumatic events make a full recovery after time.
• If your responses or behaviour get worse instead of better after a month or longer, you should seek professional help.