When I started doing things that were out of character and saying things to colleagues that confused even me, I knew things weren’t right. I started realizing that I was in trauma during my separation. I had to find out how to cope with the trauma of my divorce.
STRESS or TRAUMA?
It’s now in the zeitgeist, and we’re all being shown trauma. But back then we were only dealing with “stress”. It was because I was stressed that I was doing these things, I would say to myself. But then I started investigating.
One day I spoke with a lawyer friend Helgi Maki, about the insensitive behavior from the lawyer’s I was dealing with. The fact that I went through 4 lawyers was an indication of not just incompatibility but a real lack of empathy on their part. I couldn’t find a lawyer who would defend me in this process. In my discussion with Helgi, she casually mentioned, “so you get traumatized from your divorce and then again by the lawyers.” Yes, exactly!
She has since become an advocate for a legal system that is trauma informed and speaks across the country on the topic. My hero.
What is trauma exactly?
According to the American Psychological Association
Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives.
PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is an anxiety problem that develops in some people after extremely traumatic events, such as combat, crime, an accident or natural disaster.
People with PTSD may relive the event via intrusive memories, flashbacks and nightmares; avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma; and have anxious feelings they didn’t have before that are so intense their lives are disrupted.
Previously focused on war veterans, they are constantly expanding their definition of PTSD to now include divorce and domestic violence.
Divorce effects all areas of your life – from your mental wellbeing, physical health and your financial status, not to mention your social status and the dismantling of your family and friends. This is foundational trauma.
The trauma you go through in a divorce is debilitating and can last for years and possibly the rest of your life if you don’t learn to cope with and heal it.
And then there’s another thing to consider when we are talking about divorce. It’s the impact of past trauma on this current event. Your inherited trauma affects your life.
Inherited trauma
In Mark Wolynn’s book – It didn’t start with you
He discusses a method of therapy called – Family Constellations.
Developed in the 1978 by BERT Hellinger.
Bert Hellinger, the founder of this work, who studied and treated families for more than 50 years, observed that many of us unconsciously “take on” destructive familial patterns of anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, aloneness, alcoholism and even illness as a way of “belonging” in our families.
This form of therapy addresses how we are linked energetically to our ancestors and family systems. Now we know scientifically with epigenetics, that we are linked to the traumas of our ancestors up to 3 generations.
So, the trauma you are carrying isn’t always yours in this lifetime. So how do we cope with trauma if it isn’t even ours? There are standard treatments and then more.
Standard Treatments
The standard treatment for trauma includes CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and pharmaceuticals, however there are studies that show a very small percentage recovery rate using these methods.
There has been success with a (CBT) therapy called RTM (Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories), focused mostly on war veterans.
RTM involves taking the patient to the point of memory recall when the body starts having a reaction, such as increased breathing, heartrate elevation. Once this state is reached without experiencing the trauma fully, the therapist then helps you reframe the event, thereby reducing the impact and memory completely.
All good, but this doesn’t address the impact on the body and the damage that trauma causes.
It can alter your brain,“such as the loss of neurons in the hippocampus through the effects of cortisol, the stress hormone”
But first let’s look at the 2 types of trauma states.
Types of trauma states
Acute trauma is identified when there is one single event – a car accident, death, school shooting, etc.
Chronic trauma is when the trauma is repeated, over a prolonged period, such as in domestic violence or years of being in an abusive marriage.
According to the APA. Symptoms of trauma include:
- Shock, denial, or disbelief.
- Confusion, difficulty concentrating.
- Anger, irritability, mood swings.
- Anxiety and fear.
- Guilt, shame, self-blame.
- Withdrawing from others.
- Feeling sad or hopeless.
- Feeling disconnected or numb
This corresponds to the levels of heartbreak or grief – shock, trauma, pain, anger, denial and isolation. The brain area that registers emotional rejection also registers physical pain. So no wonder it feels like you’ve been punched in the gut when you first break-up…this is shock.
Where are you in these levels and how do you take action now to reduce the effects of the trauma you are going through?
Healing your body from trauma
We are all afraid to be in pain, but when you ignore it and numb yourself with food and alcohol or meds or distract yourself with busyness, work etc.; this only serves to prolong your suffering.
We have to do whatever we can to minimize the effects of trauma on the body by introducing alternative treatments:
- Find alternative forms of therapy like family constellations and holotropic breathwork.
- Do somatic techniques by leaning into the pain. Acknowledge the pain. Ask your body what it needs.
- Sleep is essential now. It allows the body to repair and re- establish balance.
- Get grounded every day with meditation, and walks in nature.
- Eat nurturing foods, warm, soft easy to digest, small quantities. Introduce magnesium bisglycinate at night to help your body repair.
- Find a therapist who does more than talk therapy, such as EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and EFT- Tapping.
Make these your everyday practice to cope with trauma.
- Sleep
- Self-compassion
- Ground
After all these years of dealing with my own trauma, I have found that using a holistic approach is the only way to cope with trauma.
Thank you for giving me hope for healing and encouragement to move forward after 34 years of marriage. There were many ups and downs and until this last year I never knew the secret until my adult children told me about my husband’s other child. A mountain of trauma was dumped on me to find out my husband was living a double life.
I am healing and giving myself a lot of self care, grace and love.
Blessings for helping people like me to give me the hope to rebuild my life.
Christine
Be gentle with yourself now Christine. Blessings
Only after leaving a 28/yr toxic and abusive marriage, did I discover my Ex is a Narcissist-sociopath. Now, three years into a dirty court battle, I can see this was all about a show of power (and ultimate control of the courts). I am grateful to now have an understanding of his disorder and have found peace and forgiveness (for him and to me). Still praying for that forgiveness for the court system for their part.
To add to your list of symptoms of trauma women in particular get diagnosed as Bipolar Disorder. I was in my 30s at the start of my relationship (successful in business, financially independent) when BD became the ‘go to’ invisible answer to medical community/hospitals to unanswerable ills and psychoses.
The “Gaslighting” continued to a higher level with Ex’s lawyer (no doubt Narcissist)-selected because lawyer’s Ex wife diagnosed as Bipolar Disorder. And, then Chief Justice of the Courts (longtime best friend of my Ex since high school) certainly has Narcissistic-type characters – yup, his Ex wife diagnosed as Bipolar Disorder, a person in the highest authority who knew of the abuses of Rule of Law, but allowed to continue (I still live in fear that the nightmare is not over.) It is said that there is no cure for Bipolar Disorder, but I believe Narcissism is highly symptomatic in causing it.
Thank you for sharing that Marielle,
I believe and agree with your comment about BiPolar disorder developing as a result of Narcissistic abuse. Ongoing exposure to this trauma can definitely develop. And I also believe that it can be managed and even as simply as it appeared, can disappear. The work is in making your self care a priority now above anything else. The work for you is in removing this energy from your life so that you don’t continue to attract it. If you are interested in a Breakthrough session with me, please use this link – https://calendly.com/diana-mikas/breakthroughsession. Stay strong.
Wow 3am awoke feeling really nauseous just had my lawyer call him yesterday he accepted the divorce process. I had a weekend visit with my daughter’s – this I believe started some emotions in me. Nothing was brought up with them. Just now I started crying feeling so alone. First thought was Diana’s soft, soothing voice & healing meditation. Second thought was this group. Guess what – I started reading this & I have stopped crying. I feel understood & I understand a little better 😌 My lawyer has been appointed by the Firm’s Founder Matt who I first spoke to & felt good with. He said this young man would be strong in defending me. My first meeting with Brian I felt shamed by him. He said that attorney’s are called counsel but he is not a counselor. I was not asking him for counseling I was answering his personal questions to me. I told him I had a counselor & had recently had a coach (Diana). He had a strong opinion that I could be addicted to counseling. I am feeling very unsure right now. I decided to go forward with him because I felt I had put this off way too long & had really felt confident in this Firm. I searched so long for the help I knew I needed. I don’t believe I am addicted to counseling. I think there is wisdom in seeking wise counsel. I felt this morning that I needed a little more support so I came to Diana’s Facebook Group. I’m So Glad I did!!!!
Brenda, Thank you for reaching out when you needed to. Remember that this divorce process is like a war between you and your EX. He will not be nice to you – he is your adversary. Put up your armour with him around – nothing he says can permeate all the amazing work you did and are doing to move forward. I am so proud of you for getting this divorce process going. Keep reaching out for help when you need it. You are a strong, beautiful, powerful woman who knows what is right for her.
I left my husband because I found out he was cheating on me. But blaming me for what he was doing. He was having his family tell me that I was in the wrong by wanting to leave. That I didn’t want to work on the marriage and that I gave up on the marriage. Which I never did give up on the marriage. I always love him. I was always trying to figure out how to keep us together when he was pulling us apart.
He was the one who broke the marriage up. I am the one who decided to end the marriage. Because I was tired of sitting at his mother house and doing nothing all the time. While he got to do things all the time.
I was not allowed to drive anywhere because of his mother rules. I was not allowed to go anywhere with my husband taking me to the places I needed to go. It was like I was a kid when I am an adult. I couldn’t even take my husband to a procedure that he needed to have done because I was not allowed to drive
Kristen, I want to acknowledge you for having the courage to leave. You are stronger than you know. Well done.