Coping with Traumatic Stress

Adapted from the ncptsd.org fact sheet Self-Care and Self-Help Following Disasters

Many trauma experts (Staab, Foa, Friedman) agree that the psychological outcome of our community as a whole will be resilience, not psychopathology. For most survivors, symptoms of fear, anxiety, re-experiencing, urges to avoid, and hyper-arousal, if present, will gradually decrease over time.

There are a number of common strategies that individuals utilize when coping with extraordinary stress in their lives. These strategies, while effective at manageable levels of stress, can become unproductive or detrimental when stress reaches overwhelming or traumatic levels. It is important to remember that individuals have their own way of and pace for processing traumatic events, and each individual must listen to and honor his or her own pace and way. It is suggested that survivors monitor their reactions and increase the coping strategies that have worked in other stressful situations. It has also been found believing in yourself and your ability to get through this is very important for recovery.

Research on individuals with positive responses after a traumatic event indicates that their preferred coping mechanisms are to:

• When problem-solving, focus on brief time intervals (e.g., think only about what the next step is), or focus on a larger time interval to obtain a less devastating picture of the trauma (i.e., as one tragic event in a full and meaningful life)

• Maintain a view of oneself as competent and a view of others as willing and able to provide support

• Focus on the current implications of the trauma and avoid regretting past decisions and actions¹

• Set reasonable goals for each day that are achievable to increase your sense of accomplishment and coping capability.

The process of converting traumas into growth experiences has the following characteristics:

• It is usually done by the individual alone, but confidants can also suggest new ways of viewing the situation.

• It usually occurs between 2 weeks and 4 months following the stressor.

• It can enhance one's ability to cope with subsequent stressors.

• It usually depends more on an individual's psychological resources than on the characteristics of the stressor event.

It is intuitive, rapid, and sudden rather than being an extended logical thinking process (i.e., it is characterized by sudden insight and revelation).(Finkel and Jacobsen, 1977)²