In the first few days after the traumatic event it is normal to experience some distress. This may include difficulties in sleeping, distressing thoughts and memories popping into mind, nightmares, irritability, feelings of helplessness, reliving aspects of what has happened and thinking that you should have done more to help.
If you are worried about your emotional or mental health, or that of someone else, as a result of the incident there are things you can do that might help
Do – Seek social support from family, friends and people that are known and trusted
Do – Take time out to get sufficient sleep (your normal amount), rest and relax, and eat regularly and healthily.
Do – Try to get back to the routine things in life, for example having times for getting up, going to bed and eating can give a sense of normality to life.
Do – Tell people what you need. Talk to people you trust. While talking about what happened can be helpful, no-one should be forced to talk about their experiences. For some people, it is important that they have some quiet time to think things through.
Do – Try to reduce outside demands on you and don’t take on extra responsibilities for the time being.
Do – Make time to go to a place where you feel safe and calmly go over what happened in your mind. Don’t force yourself to do this if the feelings are too strong at the moment.
Don’t – Bottle up these feelings. Think whether it would be helpful to talk about them with somebody you trust. The memories may not disappear straight away. For most people the intensity of the memory and the associated feelings will ease.
Don’t – Get embarrassed by your feelings and thoughts, or those of others. They are normal reactions to a very stressful event.
Don’t – Avoid people you trust.
If you are a parent of a child or young person under the age of 18 who is feeling worried or have noted their behaviour has changed as a result of the incident, there are things you can do that might help.
Do – Encourage them in their usual playdates and opportunities for seeing their friends.
Do – make the child’s trusted adults aware of the situation and your child aware that they can speak to these trusted adults, e.g. parents, relatives, school teacher etc.
Do – try and support the child or young person in their usual sleep pattern and if they experience difficulties recognise that bedtimes can be a thinking time and they made need additional support from you.
Do – appreciate that their behaviour may be more challenging or they may be more clingy than usual and the hope would be that this will pass with your increased care and support.
Do – recognise and acknowledge the range of emotions your child may display and encourage them to find helpful ways to express their thoughts, feelings and their experience. Helpful ways to encourage this can be playing, drawing and talking.
Do – encourage healthy meals and positive exercise experiences.
Do – check what your child is viewing in both the media and social media and ensure that it is age and stage appropriate
Do – expect your child to demonstrate one or more of these responses to the incident and know that these would be normal reactions.
In the following weeks and months:
- Many people find that their initial difficulties settle down and they are able to return to a more normal life within a few weeks
- For a few people, the problems persist or get more intense and sometimes there is a delay in the response to the trauma
- People can begin to experience other difficulties such as avoiding people or places or developing panic attacks or anxiety when faced with reminders of what happened
- If you still are having difficulties after a few weeks or a month you could think about seeking further support.
For further information and support visit our ‘Get Support‘ section
