This post explores some of the different responses registered during anniversaries of traumatic events. Note: I am not a mental health professional.
It’s believed that all cells in the body replace themselves every seven years, but the effects of trauma can linger in the body long after it has physically healed. The truth is that the body keeps the score. Trauma is not unusual because of its rarity of occurrence. It is exceptional because of the profound effects it has on the body and mind. It is entirely possible to overcome trauma and rebuild after a devastating event. But rebuilding does not necessarily mean the trauma is gone. While you can heal and grow, your body is unlikely to forget what happened. During the anniversary of a traumatic event, many people deal with an increase in negative responses.
Trauma anniversaries involve a person experiencing an increase in distressing thoughts on the anniversary of a traumatic event. An anniversary can include an exact date, time of day, season, setting, or general time. Since all people react to trauma and process it differently, there is no standard response for how someone should feel on the anniversary of a traumatic event. Understandably, it can be frustrating to hold on to trauma. Perhaps you thought you had adequately recovered from a traumatic event only to feel intrusive thoughts resurfacing at the anniversary of the life-altering date. If it’s any comfort, your body might be trying to protect you by remembering. Trauma is often irreversibly life-altering, but responses to traumatic events can be defensive. Therefore, you don’t have to feel hopeless if you continue to feel intrusive thoughts or adverse feelings on trauma anniversaries.
Why does the body remember trauma? Traumatic experiences impacted one’s life significantly, so it’s not unusual that the anniversary of something traumatic can serve as a reminder of what occurred. However, how the body processes trauma can also explain why trauma is remembered long after an event. Traumatic events likely served to teach the body an important lesson, such as not to walk alone at night or to run when a stranger approaches. The body might therefore remember what happened in a bid to protect you from experiencing similar devastation again. Understandably, processing trauma can also increase negative feelings about oneself and the world and cast a shadow over a newly rebuilt life. However, experiencing a return of distressing responses to trauma on a significant anniversary is unlikely to be long-lasting. Trauma anniversary responses don’t have to be viewed as a setback in recovery.
While everyone processes trauma differently, there are several different reactions that people with trauma anniversary distress commonly experience. These include mood and thought disturbances and increased reactivity and arousal. Intrusive thoughts are a common reaction for people that involves a return of feelings, thoughts, and reactions that corresponded with the traumatic event. They could involve distressing memories or disturbing dreams. Others may experience PTSD-related avoidance that can cause a person to go to sometimes extreme lengths to avoid triggers, places, people, or stimuli that remind one of the trauma. Adverse changes in mood and thoughts can also correspond with traumatic anniversaries and lead to sadness, shame, guilt, fear, and other negative feelings. Others experience reactivity and arousal that can cause the person to be on edge, anxious, angry, jumpy, and irritable around the time of a traumatic incident anniversary.
People who have been diagnosed with PTSD experience a higher likelihood of distressing responses to trauma anniversaries. However, survivors of trauma react on an individual spectrum of emotions and responses. Fortunately, there are steps that all survivors can follow or adapt as needed to lessen the likelihood of a traumatic event being distressing. Many people find it helpful to mitigate the lasting traumatic impact of an event by replacing the day with something positive. Positive activities include volunteer work, charitable donations, helping other people, or engaging in a fun activity. Some focus on self-care and being gentle with oneself when grappling with traumatic memories. Many people find it beneficial to reach out to supportive loved ones or a mental health professional when intrusive thoughts return. You do not have to feel ashamed for your responses or cope with your traumatic triggers alone.
Remember to permit yourself to feel. Grieving is a necessary process that allows one to understand and respond to an experience. People tend to be repelled by grief and avoid it at all costs in both themselves and others. However, people can only truly overcome tragedy once they allow themselves to feel the full scope of emotions associated with it. This can often be done in a safe and contained therapeutic setting with a trained mental health professional. However, therapy is a privilege that not everyone can afford. Be sure to surround yourself with supportive people and be extra kind to yourself when dealing with traumatic events and memories. Allowing yourself to process what occurred in a safe environment can help you heal and reclaim your life moving forward. Though trauma is likely to linger perhaps forever, living a full and functional life after trauma is entirely possible.
Source: National Center for PTSD