The Five Coping Stages Following a Traumatic Injury

Whether you or someone close to you has experienced a traumatic injury, you must be aware of the harrowing emotional stress that comes with it. Although the physical pain wears away with time, the emotional and mental pain remains. If you have lost your job or have unpaid medical because of an accident, then you also have to deal with financial grief after a wreck.  

Everybody has a different way of dealing with trauma, as all individuals have unique thoughts, distinctive preferences, and personal experiences. However, if the traumatic injury is caused due to vehicle accident, recovering from financial grief after a wreck is similar for everyone because it involves paying the money back to the bank, friends, or family. 

Some people even end up losing their jobs due to the injury and with credit already on their heads, no income with added expenditure will definitely lead to financial grief after a wreck, which might cause emotional trauma. 

While the stages involved in healing are different for everyone, below is a list of 5 broad coping stages. 

Denial

The first stage is a concoction of various emotions and feels, and is probably the most turbulent stage following the trauma. Agitation, denial, confusion can all be found in a short time frame after the occurrence of the injury. And if you end up losing your job, the stage only becomes more stressful. 

Anger 

It can happen at the same time as denial but usually comes forward after the individual starts to realize what trauma they have experienced. Some brain injuries make the patient all the angrier while some may be victims of slow realization of how much they have lost. 

They may go through waves on blames, either on others or themselves. As will all of this, patients manifest their anger in several ways. For example, if they are a victim of a car crash, they might repeatedly blame the other driver for the emotional as well as financial grief after a wreck. 

Bargaining

The next stage signifies a little bit semblance of acceptant where individuals are seen bargaining to recover. For example, they would say that they would do anything to have things the way they used to be. It can help some people to stay positive, however, it can be misleading. 

Depression 

This phase can cause people to turn their failed bargaining and anger inwards, blaming themselves and feeling what is the point. Realization of what life will be from now can cause the patient to lose faith in their future, and they might begin to grieve for their older life. It may be that their aspirations and dreams will now have to reconsider, which can be extremely painful for them. 

It is not common for such patients to call themselves as worthless or useless, wanting to be alone, and display certain symptoms of depression. 

Acceptance

Some people eventually accept themselves the way they are, post the injury and decide to make the most of it after understanding that their situation cannot change. Others realize their limits or what they cannot and can do. In the end, almost everyone reaches this stage taking their own time.