In many places, we are now coming out of, or have come out of the COVID-19 lockdowns that have thrown so many of us off the normal course of our personal and professional lives. As we re-engage with friends, neighbours, loved ones and co-workers, how can we go about releasing post lockdown trauma?
Perhaps you are wondering what I mean by post lockdown trauma. After all, many people did enjoy many aspects of the lockdown and saw it as a time to recharge and take stock of their life. However, almost everyone was affected in some way.
In addition to contagion worries, many experienced the mental trauma of having lived under chronic uncertainty, isolation, financial insecurity, job loss and for some, death of friends and loved ones. All together, enough trauma for a global mental health crisis.
I recently carried out a survey and these were some of the areas that people told me they were struggling with since the lockdowns:
- Uncertainty about the future and having to adapt day by day
- Self-doubt, fear and living an unfulfilled life
- Freedom being taken away
- Not believing one can live and work as they want to any more
- Unable to make decisions
- Finding time to do what they want
All of these are symptoms of how post lockdown trauma is affecting them. And there are many, many more.
So, how does Post Lockdown Trauma happen?
Some people have felt under an inescapable attack from an invisible enemy, causing a sustained stress response (sympathetic nervous system). This continually loads the body with hormones meant for quick action.
But, with nothing to “fight” and nowhere to run away to, the response isn’t fulfilled, or might be a “freeze” or “fawn” response. This leads to ongoing stress symptoms. These include accelerated heart rate, rapid breathing, and inability to benefit fully from digestion.
After a prolonged period of time, our bodies become depleted, impacting our thoughts and sense of well-being. This leads to a range of mental health conditions including anxiety and depressive disorders. Many physical health conditions can also come about from this.
Many people have also felt under a perceived attack on their freedoms from a totalitarian government acting under globally co-ordinated orders. This could also lead to symptoms manifesting in a similar way.
As I mentioned before, the inability to fight or flee has led many people to manifest the freeze or fawn responses. If these become chronic (ongoing), these could be some of the impacts:
Freeze Response
Bio-logically, the purpose of a freeze response is to avoid danger by becoming inactive until it goes away. When fighting your way out or running away seem impossible, the brain turns on the freeze response as the last resort. Symptoms can include
- Muscles lock up, in part or all of the body, this is called tonic immobility, your muscles literally lose the ability to move.
- Feelings of numbness, detachment, or dissociation. You separate from your thoughts, feelings and sensations for a while. In the case of imminent death this is a functional response, protecting you from pain that you can’t escape. When it is a response to perceived threats then it can really mess with your life, disconnecting you from the things you care about
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Feeling cold, stuck, trapped, A sense of stiffness, or heaviness
- Holding breath, Shrinking, or trying to disappear
From the survey that I did, It appears that an ongoing freeze response has been a very common effect of post lockdown trauma. It could lead to many of the new behavioural issues that I mentioned above.
Fawn Response
This is the unconscious strategy of people pleasers and those that are desperate to fit in and want to be looked after by authority. It involves behaviours such as going along with what you are told, appeasing the more powerful entity and giving in.
Fawners will forfeit of all their needs, rights, preferences and boundaries in order to feel safe. They believe that safety has to come from outside of them.
They may also be outraged and shocked by the behaviour of others that doesn’t fit in with what they are doing to keep safe. We see this a lot now with behaviours such as mask shaming, screaming at people to social distance and snitching. All for the “common good”.
Often the fawn response requires the acceptance of two or more pieces of conflicting information, known as cognitive dissonance. The trouble is that once this becomes your strategy, you become more and more malleable and easy to control by a perceived authority. This has been seen in the phenomenon known as Stockholm Syndrome and in the Milgram Experiment.
Of course, there are rational reasons to exercise caution in perceived dangerous situations until you have reasonable evidence otherwise. However, the state of fear has continued in the face of much good evidence that the situation is nowhere near as dangerous as first thought. It is clear that many people are still operating from a conditioned fawn response.
Why Do People Respond in Different Ways?
We all entered into the lockdown situation at roughly the same time, depending on where we live. However, there has, of course been a wide range of mental and emotional responses. A key part of this is the unique blend of beliefs, past experiences and emotional responses that each of us has and brought with us into the lockdown. Of course, the physical environment, life situation and social life that we each have is also incredibly important.
Here are some examples of factors that could have an impact on whether the lockdown was traumatic for an individual:
- A theme of isolation/abandonment in life
- Existing symptoms such as anxiety and/or depression
- Living alone or in a difficult family/living situation (eg abusive partnership)
- Limiting beliefs and/or situation around money and finances
- Fear of authority
- Ancestral patterns (for example, in Spain, many people either have direct memories of living under a fascist dictatorship or carry the pattern from close relatives)
- Beliefs about health, medicine and ability to self-heal
And, of course, many other factors – really the list is endless!
How Can You Resolve Post Lockdown Trauma?
Fortunately, there are many ways that you can resolve post lockdown trauma. Not only that, it is also possible to use it as a springboard to transform and improve your life.
Forget the new normal…
Life was never about being “normal”…
How about creating the new exceptional?
This might seem a long way off and here are the stages that you may need to go through.
Firstly, it’s essential to remember (or possibly begin) self care basics. Healthy eating, rest and regular exercise can give you the resilience to evolve and adapt to threats to your survival. Take good care of yourself first, and you have more to give to others, if this is important to you.
Next, releasing any ongoing stress responses. For example, if you are finding it hard to make decisions, releasing the ongoing freeze response could help you to move forwards with that. If you are angry or scared about the way that other people are acting/dealing with things, explore the emotions around this and see how things shift. One of the saddest things I am seeing at the moment is previously good friends falling out. This is due to a clash of the way they have reacted or responded to the situation.
This is at a time when we really need to come together and accept our differences. Much more important than taking the moral high ground, based on our own limiting beliefs and perceptions.
Part of this process will be exploring what has triggered, or is triggering you and understanding how it relates to your past. The most effective processes that I know for this are EFT (Tapping) and Matrix Reimprinting.
These techniques enable you to discharge difficult emotions in the present moment. You also understand and resolve the past memories, limiting beliefs and emotional blocks that are preventing you from moving on. They are great self-help tools. Or, even better when you work with a skilled practitioner who can guide you to heal yourself in the most effective way. I definitely recommend working with somebody if you can’t move on, are dealing with significant trauma or have any physical or mental health condition.
Depending on the level of stress, trauma and pre-existing conditions that you have, this could be an ongoing “work in progress”. However, every shift in your state can give you an opportunity to move forwards in your life. Relationships, sense of inner peace, financial and work opportunities or whatever you are feeling a lack of in your life can all change
Just by releasing the emotional impact of trauma in your life, things will get better for you. However, there are further steps, which are all about consciously creating the present and future life that you desire. These are the steps that will enable you to not only release your unhelpful attachments to the old normal, but also to create that new exceptional life.
These next steps are all about getting clear on what is really important for you in your life. Then, using this knowledge to create a true vision and exciting objectives for your life. And, the good news is that you don’t need to wait until you have cleared all of your post lockdown trauma and emotional blocks before doing this. They can go on concurrently.
In fact, this focus on the future can even help you to clear post lockdown trauma more quickly. Nothing highlights your limiting beliefs more effectively than taking action towards the life that you want to live.
Very briefly, the steps are:
Identifying what’s important for you – mapping your personal values and drivers in life
Creating a vision based on your values and drivers. Truly in line with you, rather than just the pre-programmed goals of society
Using your vision to create inspiring objectives that you will be excited to move towards and achieve
Realising the changes in habits and actions that you can take to make it happen, step by step
Overcoming the blocks to realising a life in line with your vision – or even better!
If you choose to use it as such, the lockdown and it’s impact on your life can be a real gift that enables you to shed layers of conditioning, heal the ongoing effects of trauma and step more into a life that is truly and richly yours.
And, the more of us that heal our post lockdown trauma, the greater the chances are that we will come through this situation into a world that we are happy and excited to live in.
If you are looking for any support in this, I’d love to help you to let go of any negative effects that you are experiencing from the lockdown and create the life you want.
For 1-1 support, book a free conscious discovery call with me here.
I’d love to support you in creating a NEW EXCEPTIONAL life!