After a traumatic event, it’s important to look after your health and well-being. If you keep your body and mind healthy, you’ll have more energy to support your child and deal with your own feelings. Getting the right type of support will help too.
Your feelings after a traumatic event
You and your child might have experienced a traumatic event together – for example, a serious car accident, a bushfire or flood, or the death of a family member or friend. Or the trauma might be something that happened only to your child.
Even if you didn’t go through the traumatic event with your child, you might still have strong feelings and reactions afterwards.
For example, you might feel guilty that you couldn’t stop the event or that you weren’t with your child during the event. You might also feel angry, anxious or overwhelmed. This is a normal reaction, because you feel responsible for keeping your child safe. Unfortunately it isn’t always possible.
Tips for coping well after trauma
After a traumatic event it can feel like your life has been turned upside down. There might be new demands on your time, like medical appointments or insurance claims, as well as the demands of daily life. Many of your usual routines might be upset or more difficult to manage.
It’s worth focusing some energy on trying to cope in a calm and positive way. When you’re coping well, your child is more likely to cope well too.
And if you can create a sense of family togetherness, talk openly about the event and help your child work through his feelings, you’ll be providing a supportive environment as your family recovers.
Here are more tips on ways to cope.
Looking after you
- Relaxation exercises, breathing exercises and a brisk walk or short jog in the morning can help if you’re feeling worried or jumpy, or you’re having trouble sleeping. Exercise helps you think and feel better.
- Make time for something you enjoy. It might be 15 minutes to go for a run or read a book, but it’s still time for you.
- Try to limit gambling, and alcohol and other drugs. To deal with strong feelings, people sometimes turn to these things, but they’re a short-term fix at best. Gambling and drugs can create problems with health, relationships and finances that make recovering after a traumatic event even harder.
- Be aware that reminders of the traumatic event might upset you. This is normal. If you notice that you’re getting anxious, it can help to say to yourself, ‘I’m upset because I’m being reminded of the event, but it’s different now. There’s no danger, and I’m safe’. If you’re having nightmares or flashbacks, see your doctor.
Managing family life
- Keep in mind that you might not be able to do everything you normally do. Work out which of your daily tasks are the most important and focus on those. You can also try breaking larger tasks into smaller steps.
- Try to maintain regular routines because this will help your child feel more secure. It might also help you feel more on top of things. If you can’t use your usual routines, you might need to create some new routines.
- Avoid making any major decisions – for example, moving to another town – after the traumatic event. The trauma might have changed your view of the world, so it’s good to leave big decisions until life has settled down a bit. Then you know your decisions are sound.
Reaching out for support
- Share your feelings with trusted friends or family members. You might feel responsible for what happened or very angry, which is normal. Talking through feelings can help you be realistic about what you could have done. It’s also normal to feel annoyed with each other at times, but try talking and then moving on. For example, ‘We’ve been really cranky with each other, but considering what we’ve been through, I think we’re doing pretty well’.
- Ask for help from family, friends and others. Accept help when it’s offered. Your GP is a good person to ask about support services that can help you.
- Keep in touch with others including your family, your friends and your community. Parents who visit or phone family and friends and stay involved in their communities tend to cope better after a traumatic event than those who don’t.
Sometimes angry feelings can get out of control and lead to violence. If someone in your family or community is angry and violent and you or your children are in immediate danger, call the police.
Signs that you’re not coping after trauma
Over time most people cope after a traumatic event, but a few people might have trouble coping.
Some of the signs that you might need help to cope after a trauma are:
- feeling anxious, angry, overwhelmed, upset, guilty and ashamed or blaming yourself for over a month after the event
- experiencing changes to your health including headaches, weight loss and problems with sleep
- finding it hard to get the event out of your mind
- feeling ‘cut off’ from the people around you
- not being able to care for your child or offer the emotional support your child needs.
Talk with your doctor if you have any of these signs, or if you feel you need support. Recovery after a traumatic event is different for everyone, so it’s important to get help if you need it. Also, the earlier you get help, the faster you’re likely to recover.
Services and support after trauma
If you feel that you or your family aren’t coping, it’s important to seek help as soon as you can.
Getting support early will help you and your child as you recover. You might like to call a parenting hotline, talk with your doctor or contact a mental health service for advice and referrals to local services.
Other parents can be a great source of support and ideas. Connect with other parents and families in our online forums.
