Managing Acute Reactions to Trauma: How to Heal From Recent Traumatic Events?

In a study published in 2024, the researchers found that 62.7% of Texan adults experienced at least 1 adverse childhood experience (ACE). ACEs are traumatic experiences that someone had as a child. If left untreated in childhood, they may develop more chronic reactions to trauma. However, traumatic experiences also occur in adults through domestic violence, car accidents, natural disasters, and more. These lead to acute reactions.

At SUN Behavioral Health Houston, we aim to help you understand that reactions to trauma, including acute ones, are expected. Our goal is to help patients learn how to heal from what they went through. Today, we are going to discuss managing acute reactions to trauma. 

Trauma is any event you have experienced that impacts your life. These events may have happened once, multiple times, or were long-lasting repetitive events. How someone reacts to the traumatic event they experienced varies from person to person. Some people appear to be less affected by trauma. In contrast, others experience more severe reactions and develop conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even people who have experienced the same or similar traumas will have reactions of different severity to it.

This includes acute reactions to trauma, which sometimes develops into an acute stress disorder (ASD), but not always. Acute trauma reactions are short-lived responses to the traumatic event that develops. The person may be in a state where they are stuck in “fight or flight” as their body perceives an ongoing threat. If ignored, it could progress into a chronic trauma response that significantly impacts a person’s life and often requires treatment to reverse. Below are some of the most common acute reactions someone might have to a traumatic event. 

Someone who has gone through a traumatic experience will have emotional reactions to the event shortly after it has occurred. These include anger, sadness, fear, and shame, but they might also have other acute emotional reactions. 

One possible response is emotional dysregulation, where the person cannot regulate their emotions as they go back and forth between experiencing emotional extremes. This turns to unhealthy coping habits like gambling, overworking, substance use, or unhealthy eating habits. 

On the other hand, some people don't feel any emotions. This is a biological process known as numbing. They become detached from their behaviors, memories, and thoughts and essentially mask the internal emotions they are experiencing. Someone who is experiencing numbing will have a limited range of emotions and be unable to connect any emotions to their trauma. Sometimes, numbing leads to loved ones and counselors misinterpreting severity. 

Trauma also results in acute physical reactions. Often, these are the first symptoms that get people to seek assistance. This is because a typical response to trauma is the development of specific physical symptoms. These include sleep, gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal concerns. 

Most people with acute reactions to trauma will have difficulty falling or staying asleep, frequent nightmares, muscle tension, sensitive startle responses, stomach pain, chest pain, and eating too much or too little. If left untreated, it develops into more severe conditions that require medical attention.

Another way that people react to trauma is the actions and behaviors they engage in, often as a response to the other reactions they have. Some people may become avoidant, overeat, participate in risky behaviors, or self-medicate with alcohol or substances. Other people show aggression or reenact their trauma. Reenactments of trauma are the person trying to relive the experience in an attempt to understand the events that occurred. They could include risky sexual behaviors, reckless driving, walking alone in unsafe areas, seeking out destructive relationships, or self-harm. 

Speaking of self-harm, these behaviors and suicidal ideation are common among those with acute behavioral reactions. If you or a loved one are experiencing either, immediately visit a 24/7 crisis care center. You do not have to try to cope with your traumatic experience on your own, and there will be people there who will provide you with the stabilization and tools you need to find healing. 

Trauma often impacts people’s social lives. Regardless of whether they had a strong support system before the traumatic event occurred, many people will still have social reactions associated with their traumatic event. Either someone will rely heavily on the support of their family and friends, or they will avoid them altogether out of the belief no one will understand. They might also feel like they don’t know who to trust or see themselves as a burden to those they care about. 

For those who fear they can’t control their reactions to trauma, they will pull away from others to protect the safety of their loved ones from emotional, behavioral, or physical reactions. Guilt and shame also draw people who have experienced trauma away from their support systems. Suppose the trauma comes from a family member or friend. In that case, they feel betrayed and alone in their experience, creating a fear of trusting others. This is how they protect themselves from being hurt, taken advantage of, or disappointed. 

Some people who have experienced a traumatic experience respond by “trauma dumping” on loved ones or strangers. This is a one-way interaction where someone overshares their traumatic experiences with someone who is not prepared for it or at an inappropriate time. 

There are many ways to manage traumatic reactions. Below, we discuss 3 of them. 

Validate your experience — Your traumatic experience was real. The emotions you are feeling are normal reactions to a non-normal experience. There is nothing wrong with what you are feeling, experiencing, etc. This traumatic experience was not your fault. Even if you had a role in its existence, it is still not your fault. Practicing self-validation through the use of affirmations like “What I experienced wasn’t fair, but these are normal responses to it” helps ease the intensity of your trauma reactions.

The 5-4-3-2-1 technique – Focus on your senses. This technique helps you concentrate on what is happening in the present moment instead of what happened in the past. Look at 5 things you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Then identify 4 of those things, then 3, then 2, and finally 1. By the time you have identified each of these objects through your senses, it will have brought you calm and distracted you from memories of your traumatic experience. 

Laugh – Laughter reduces stress and boosts your immune system. Watching a funny video, spending time with a friend who always makes you laugh, or attending a stand-up comedy show when the memories of your traumatic event overwhelm you will make you feel better. 

Suppose someone you love has recently experienced a traumatic experience. In that case, you might feel helpless or not know what you should do or how to respond. First, being there for your loved one is essential, even if your loved one wants to pull away. Efforts to be with them and listen say more than any words. 

Remain judgment-free in your interactions with them. You can ask them questions but phrase them in ways that remove shame and judgment. Your loved one’s traumatic experience is not their fault, and creating a space that facilitates that will provide them with necessary healing. 

Let them take the lead in your conversations. Don’t tell them how they should or should not feel about certain things. Everyone responds to trauma differently, and how you would respond to that event might be different than what they think about it. Offer support and validation for those emotions. 

Don’t offer unsolicited advice on their trauma. This may push them away. If they do ask for your guidance, you may provide it, but hold your opinions to yourself unless asked. Instead, what you can do is offer practical help. If they have difficulty cleaning their apartment or finding the energy to prepare a meal, offer to do those things for them as they recreate their daily routine.

If your trauma reactions are impacting your daily life, talk to your doctor about the possibility of attending trauma therapy. Through therapy, you will gain skills that reduce the symptoms associated with your reactions. They will teach you how to lower stress and help you find healthy ways to cope with your experiences. You will also find healing and peace surrounding the events that took place.

Not everyone who has experienced a traumatic event requires the same levels of care. The best way to know what works best for you is to receive a no-cost care assessment from a mental health professional. These assessments connect you with caring professionals who will listen to your symptoms, concerns, and goals and design a treatment plan that gives you the freedom to recover from the traumatic experiences in your life. 

At SUN Behavioral Health Houston, we solve unmet needs. We offer a specialty women’s program that provides healing to women every day who are experiencing acute and chronic reactions to trauma. Contact us today at 713-796-2273 for more information.