Trauma is a disturbing event that can have a significant impact on an individual's physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. It may cause severe feelings such as anxiety, depression, shame, guilt, anger, and fear. After experiencing traumatic events, it's crucial to cope with these intense emotions positively for healthy functioning. Research shows that being close and intimate with another person, particularly a romantic partner, can help individuals manage their traumatic stress more effectively. This paper explains how intimacy improves coping after traumatic stress by exploring different types of traumas, various forms of trauma treatment, and the role of intimacy in promoting healing from trauma.
Types of Traumas
Traumas are extreme experiences that exceed our ability to cope and integrate into our lives. These experiences include natural disasters, accidents, sexual assault, war, domestic violence, abuse, and other life-threatening incidents. People who experience traumas tend to develop PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), which causes intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance behaviors, negative mood changes, and social isolation. PTSD affects about 12% of men and 4% of women globally.
Sexual Assault as a Type of Trauma
One type of trauma is sexual assault. Victims of sexual assault often feel ashamed, guilty, humiliated, and frightened due to stigma and blame associated with the incident. They may also have difficulty trusting others or engaging in relationships due to feelings of vulnerability, guilt, and fear of rejection. Sexual assault victims suffer from physical and mental symptoms such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, memory loss, flashbacks, and hypervigilance.
Intimacy can help alleviate these symptoms through empathy and understanding from a loved one.
Intimacy in Trauma Treatment
Many treatments exist for people experiencing traumatic stress, including psychotherapy, medications, and complementary therapies like yoga, art, and music therapy. Psychotherapy involves talking therapy that helps patients process their emotions and coping mechanisms. Medications reduce distressing symptoms, but they are not always effective and may cause side effects. Intimate relationships facilitate healing by providing support, acceptance, empathy, and validation. Sharing experiences with a romantic partner creates a safe space where individuals can express their traumatic thoughts and emotions without judgment or criticism.
Coping Mechanism Through Intimacy
Intimacy promotes positive coping mechanisms such as problem-solving, reframing, self-care, relaxation techniques, social support, and cognitive restructuring. Problem-solving involves identifying challenges and finding solutions to manage them more effectively. Reframing is changing negative beliefs into positive ones. Self-care includes healthy habits such as exercise, meditation, sleep, and nutrition. Relaxation techniques involve deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness practices. Social support provides comfort, care, and encouragement from trusted friends and family members.
Cognitive restructuring entails revising negative thoughts and replacing them with optimistic ones.
Intimacy plays an essential role in helping individuals cope after traumatic stress. It provides a sense of safety, security, belonging, and connection necessary for recovery. By sharing experiences, receiving empathetic responses, and practicing positive coping strategies, intimate partnerships promote healing from trauma.
It's crucial to recognize that everyone processes trauma differently and needs unique treatments. People experiencing trauma should seek professional help from trained therapists, counselors, and medical professionals who can provide tailored treatment plans based on individual needs.
How does intimacy improve coping after traumatic stress?
Traumatic experiences can have long-lasting effects on an individual's ability to cope with daily life. One of the ways people can help mitigate these effects is through intimate relationships. The presence of a support system has been shown to be beneficial for individuals who have experienced trauma. Intimacy involves sharing personal thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and experiences with another person, which can provide emotional validation, empathy, and comfort.