Going through a traumatic event during your childhood can have an impact on your entire life. Some people deal with issues as children and then wind up struggling in certain ways as adults. If you feel that something from your past is holding you back from living the life that you want, then you might be wondering how you can move on. Is there a reliable way that you can overcome childhood trauma?
Getting over things that happened to you as a child can take time. For some people, the road will be much more perilous than others. Even so, there are steps that you can take that will help you to heal. Read on to learn how to start the healing process so that your health and wellness can improve.
Acknowledge What Happened
Sometimes childhood trauma holds power over people because they aren’t able to acknowledge it. If you were abused as a child in some way, then you might try to bury the trauma so that you won’t have to deal with it. While this might seem like an effective coping mechanism, it might wind up making things worse later on in life. Not properly accepting what happened will keep you from being able to truly move on.
The trauma might nag at you in the back of your head even though you’re trying to forget about it. This isn’t just something that kids who have been abused deal with. People who were bullied as children and those who lost loved ones will also deal with different types of trauma. It’s going to be better for you to recognize the trauma so that you can try to reclaim your life.
Allow yourself to process your emotions. If you bottle your emotions up instead of dealing with them, then your stress will just keep building. This can make you feel extremely anxious and it’ll be hard to move forward in life. Talking about your experiences openly and honestly might help you to feel as if a weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
Open Up to Trusted Friends and Family Members
Opening up to trusted friends and family members will be a positive step. If you can talk to the people that you care about, then you might be able to feel significantly better. Sometimes it can feel tough to do this, though. You might feel awkward about sharing your childhood trauma at first, but it can be cathartic once you choose to do so.
Choosing people in your life that you know you can trust will be best. You want to talk to people who care about you and will also be able to be supportive no matter what. If you can share what happened with your significant other or your best friends, then this might help you to put things into perspective. Those who are closest to you will support you and you’ll see that you don’t have to carry this trauma alone.
Try to Stay Healthy
Trying to stay healthy can help you to avoid getting anxious about the past. Many people who are dealing with childhood trauma use exercise as a good coping mechanism. When you’re feeling depressed or anxious, it’ll be good to try to exercise a bit. You can work on improving your physical condition while also boosting your mental health.
Exercise is fantastic for improving your mood. It’s known as a natural antidepressant for a reason. Try to fit regular exercise sessions into your schedule. Even thirty minutes of moderate exercise each day can have a positive impact on your body and mind. You can consult your doctor before starting a new exercise routine if you have any concerns.
Learn How to Deal with Negative Thoughts
Negative thoughts will sometimes creep inside your head when you’re still struggling with past trauma. You can learn how to deal with negative thoughts so that they won’t ruin your day too often. It’s possible to try to replace negative thoughts with good ones. When you start thinking about something negative, you can try to count your blessings and think about positive things in your life instead.
It might also be helpful to keep a journal so that you can express yourself. For some, writing down negative thoughts will help them to let go of them. You can also gather your thoughts by writing about how you’re feeling and various other things. Many therapists will have patients keep journals because of how helpful they can be.
Meditation is something that can make you feel more at ease, too. You can try to use meditation as a way to calm yourself when you’re feeling anxious or negative. All you really need to do is close your eyes and try to clear your mind. Focus on taking slow and deep breaths so that you can feel more relaxed.
These are just some of the coping techniques that people utilize when trying to overcome childhood trauma. If you’re dealing with depression or anxiety related to past traumatic events, then these coping ideas can help. They aren’t going to be the only ways that you can deal with your feelings, though. It’s also possible to reach out to professionals.
Seek Therapy
Seeking therapy is going to be a good idea. You can talk to your doctor about what you’re experiencing and you might be able to get medications that will help you with feelings of depression or anxiety. Typically, doctors will also recommend attending therapy so that you can work through the childhood trauma issues that you’re dealing with. Therapy is the best way to truly move on and start feeling better.
If you want to enjoy the most convenient type of therapy, then contacting BetterHelp is a good idea. This is online therapy that makes it possible to get help from the comfort of home. You’re going to be able to reach out to get help whenever you feel like you’re having a tough time. There are even various therapy options such as video chat therapy, phone therapy, and text exchange therapy.
Anyone who is busy is going to find online therapy to be very convenient. It makes it simple to get the help that you need. If you want to talk to someone who cares so that you can work through past trauma, then online therapy will be perfect. You can reach out whenever you’re ready.
