Rehabilitation of psychologically traumatized patients, which is also known as psychosocial rehabilitation, is the process of restoring the functional and social health of a patient who has been diagnosed with an emotional or mental disorder, or has a psychological disability. Therefore, psychological rehabilitation has been allocated with the aim of enhancing the patient’s recovery process from his psychological traumas and possessing the ability to fully integrate with society, which enables them to improve their quality of life. Therefore, in our article today, we present to you all the important information about rehabilitation for psychological patients who have suffered psychological traumas.

What is psychological trauma?

Psychological shock or emotional shock is a state of emotional response that afflicts a person after being exposed to a horrific or traumatic incident, or perhaps after going through one of the experiences that severely hurts the person and its owners, with some psychological and physical damage as well.

An example of this is when a person is exposed to physical assault or any other type of assault, or is exposed to traffic accidents, or after the loss of loved ones. It can also happen after repeated situations of abuse, such as what happens with children in terms of neglect and treatment that is very disturbing, as it affects the person.

After a person is exposed to psychological trauma, this leads to a feeling of constant sadness and anger completely controlling him, as well as a state of denial for everything that happened, and blaming the psychological person for all events and traumas, but after a period of time has passed that varies from one person to another, he can get used to it and overcome that ordeal that resulted in many negative effects by receiving psychological support that is necessary on an ongoing basis.

There are some cases in which these symptoms persist for long periods, where the person then feels that he is stuck at this event and cannot pass through it afterwards. He also constantly recalls all the painful memories and all the negative feelings that resulted from them, in addition to his constant concern not to visit any place that reminds him of that so as not to be exposed to the disorder that is called in psychology post-traumatic stress disorder.

Benefits of rehabilitation for trauma patients

There are a number of benefits of rehabilitating psychological trauma patients. A person’s psychological trauma can last for long periods of time when left without receiving appropriate treatment that leads to complete recovery. The person can also be affected by trauma when left in his mental and physical health and various other aspects of his life. Therefore, there are many benefits of rehabilitation programs for psychological trauma patients, the most prominent of which are the following:

• Trauma treatment: Psychological trauma treatment provides a supportive and safe environment in which we deal with specialists who undertake the task of understanding the roots of trauma well and the way it affects the person so that it can be treated permanently and managed well.
• Symptom management: Trauma treatments help reduce the negative symptoms associated with psychological trauma by reducing depression, anxiety symptoms, and post-traumatic stress disorder by enabling the patient to control his emotions to improve his overall health.
• Learning coping skills: When learning the correct coping strategies for managing trauma and associated emotions, it can form a vital part of basic trauma treatment, as more correct responses to psychological factors and triggers can equate to a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
• Reducing triggers: Untreated triggers exacerbate painful memories, trauma triggers, and many other symptoms that increase over time. Therefore, treatment for psychological trauma focuses largely on how to manage these triggers in the best possible way.
• Dealing with the patient's feeling of guilt: Not treating psychological trauma brings a lot of shame and guilt onto the patient's soul after being exposed to the trauma, and even though he was not responsible for what happened to him, it is one of the types of guilt because he is a survivor. Therefore, treating psychological trauma enables the patient to get rid of this feeling permanently while treating all the negative feelings that accompany it, and they can also be transformed into positive, productive feelings.
• Dual diagnosis treatment: Most often, untreated psychological trauma can cause the development of substance abuse as one of the means of coping, and therefore all of the patient's mental disorders and their comorbid substance abuse are generally treated.

The most important methods of rehabilitation of psychological trauma patients

The methods followed by physical specialists in rehabilitating psychological trauma patients cannot include a single pattern and become the same method in which all patients are dealt with, but there are several different methods that must be known in order to know the extent of the impact of each of them on the patient’s life in general in various aspects. Based on that knowledge, the method that focuses on one of the most important aspects, or several aspects together, is chosen. Rafah Center for Psychological Rehabilitation  Al Mousa Specialist Hospital has many treatment programs that can help you get through your difficult times.

Here are the most important types of rehabilitation programs for psychological trauma patients provided by the Rafah Center:

• Community Rehabilitation: All local resources are used in this treatment so that the trauma patient can benefit from all of them, which enables him to engage with all members of the community later with great ease.
• Medical rehabilitation: After physical rehabilitation, it is one of the essential aspects of the rehabilitation process for psychologically traumatized patients. This is done through the use of the best types of appropriate medications, or surgical treatments when necessary, or through physical therapy, and all periodic exercises undertaken by the therapist.
• Psychological rehabilitation for childrenThis type of rehabilitation takes place through the trauma patient’s adaptation to his surrounding environment, in addition to making all decisions correctly related to the growth of his personality and independence.
• Social rehabilitation: This rehabilitation helps in adapting the abilities of trauma patients to all the needs of the family or work, which makes it easier for him to coexist in all the surrounding environments and interact with them effectively towards the future.
• Vocational rehabilitation: Vocational rehabilitation directs all the abilities of trauma patients through continuous training and complete psychological readiness so that he can have a suitable job opportunity and the ability to maintain it.
• Educational Rehabilitation: Specializes in providing several different educational programs that contribute to the development of psychological trauma patients in cognitive and mental aspects.

FAQ:

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a person's behavior resulting from the continuous reappearance of his painful memories, which invade the thoughts of the psychological patient, and this continues for a long period of more than a month or much longer, as these memories can be more frightening than painful, in addition to being realistic, which causes constant discomfort for the psychological patient.

Post-traumatic stress disorder begins within the first six months from the date of the disturbing event that led to the psychological trauma. Some events can be life-threatening, leading to anxiety, nervousness, and severe discomfort for long periods.

People with PTSD experience nightmares that make them avoid all things that remind them of it.

Therefore, doctors specializing in psychotherapy resort to including psychological treatment in this case, including exposure therapy, supportive therapy, and antidepressants.

What is the effect of psychological trauma on the body and behavior?

There are several negative effects of psychological trauma on a person, which appear in many aspects of his life, including his behavior and physical health. These effects are as follows:

• Constant feeling of headache. This occurs as a result of psychological pressure on the patient, and it also leads to an increase or decrease in blood pressure.
• Intestinal and stomach disorders occur in a small percentage and often occur in cases immediately after trauma. It also results in colon problems as a result of emotional disturbance.
• A constant feeling of fatigue and exhaustion is one of the most prominent complications of psychological trauma. It also leads to a reluctance to eat and drink all kinds of food and to lose his desire to eat them all the time.
• Nerve inflammation and body pain, which is a natural reaction to psychological stress on the body.
• Insomnia and disturbing sleep disorders are among the most prominent results of the body being exposed to psychological trauma.
• A noticeable increase in heart rate, which is one of the most serious damages resulting from a person going through psychological stress and trauma.
• Everything we mentioned about the effect of psychological trauma on a person’s body, regarding what his behavior is affected by, is intense anger and aggressive behavior towards all people who are not close, and perhaps close ones as well, which is linked to the shock in various ways and occurs as a result of the person’s belief that he was wronged by this event due to the lack of convincing reasons for its occurrence.

Rehabilitation of psychological trauma patients is one of the most important services that many psychological patients need, regardless of the symptoms of their illness, but it is necessary to reach the stage of recovery and complete recovery from psychological trauma. Therefore, Al Mousa Specialist Hospital provides several areas of psychological rehabilitation that are suitable for all patients.

Sources and references

Rehabilitation after traumatic injury  – ncbi

Trauma Rehabilitation – accessmedicine