Pre-Traumatic Stress - It's Real!

I recently listened to The Life Coach School Podcast with Brooke Castillo, episode number 313.  She talked about pre- traumatic stress for the health care workers fighting the COV19.  They are living in fear of catching the virus and/or bringing it home to their families.   

As I was listening to that and feeling their stress and anxiety, I thought back to when my spouse, Denis received his first cancer diagnosis.  I had panic and fear many times thinking and anticipating the future with thoughts of:   

• “Is he going to die?”  
• “Am I going to be a widow in my 50s?” 
• “Are we going to lose our house?”
• “Am I going to have to quit my job?”  

Can you relate?   It's a normal feeling.

It’s interesting how our brain moves right into panic, fear and moving into that future state.  

I fought those thoughts for weeks by crying myself to sleep, going through the motions of the day like a zombie or excessively working around the house.  It became exhausting and dark. Eventually I had to accept those feelings and find ways to release anxiety and stress.  It was robbing me of living in the present.

Understanding your brain and how it works is the first start.   Your brain feeds off negative thoughts. Your brain comes alive with negatively alive.  Think about Googling your spouse's cancer diagnosis or reading sad stories of the disease.  It’s similar to watching the news.   If you do it enough, you can see your feelings thriving on negativity.  

Realizing that staying in that negative state is not healthy physically and mentally.  There is a concept called 50/50 brain balance that I use.  When you are thinking and feeling those thoughts, allow yourself to be there BUT then allow yourself to be in the positive 50 as well.  

In the podcast,  Brooke said “ It’s important to remember that you have a choice when it comes to trauma. You can resist and avoid it, feeling afraid every day that it might come. Or, you can acknowledge it, feel your feelings, and separate your anxious thoughts from the facts.”