Psychiatrist Dr. Tuba Erdogan gave information about the subject. Trauma is defined as experiences that develop suddenly, unexpectedly and that can endanger the vital integrity of the person. Natural disasters, traffic accidents, harassment and life-threatening events are among the examples that can be called trauma.
Every individual has lifelong traumatic experiences and can often cope. However, when faced with sudden and unexpected life-threatening situations, he has difficulty in coping, and the most compelling feeling of this is helplessness. The person who is alone with this feeling experiences symptoms such as feeling vulnerable and powerless. It is at this point that concerns begin to arise. Symptoms such as anxiety about the future, not feeling safe, and sleep problems are called symptoms according to the severity of the situation. In other words, unusual events will cause unusual feelings and complaints.
Not only the people directly experiencing the traumatic event, but also the indirect exposure to this event reveals what we call secondary trauma. In other words, we call the situation experienced by the person who directly witnessed the traumatic event as primary trauma;
Since it has only been a short time, we can cite the earthquake, which has resonated as a country and even around the world, as the most important example of this issue, which has made 10 provinces in total the primary victims of trauma. It would not be a wrong interpretation to say that earthquake victims are primary traumatized people, and almost all of the rest of our country are secondary traumatized people, even though the violence is different.
At this very point, it is important to know which of our symptoms may be normal, perhaps temporary with the necessary support, and which of our symptoms should be psychologically affected and we should seek professional support for a period of time.
Post-traumatic, extreme fear, helplessness, feeling terrified, shock, denial, inability to comprehend, unresponsiveness, inability to cry or crying spells may occur, as well as experiencing earthquakes and earthquake-related experiences over and over in the mind, avoiding places or situations that remind them of this situation, excessive tension, Feelings of no future, feelings of guilt, confusion, and a feeling of being in a dream are symptoms that may be present.
In this case, like other mental disorders, it would be beneficial to seek professional support when the severity of the symptoms, parallel to the severity of the event, and their persistence for about a month, lead to a deterioration in the functionality of the person's professional or social life.
In this normal process, the importance of social support will be great. Sharing feelings is important, but it is important whether the person is ready or not.
Psychological professional support, psychotherapy methods, EMDR, supportive individual psychotherapies, development of coping skills, as well as drug treatment can be followed up.