Experts: There’s no right or wrong way to deal with trauma
THERE is no one single way to react to an event as shocking as last week’s bombing. Nor is there a right way, or a wrong way.
Thousands of people across Manchester and beyond – and especially those at the Arena on the night of the attack – have spent the last week dealing with the tidal wave of emotion that hits in the aftermath of a major trauma.
Some have told of guilt, or panic at the sound of sirens, or disrupted sleep, or just a kind of numb emptiness. Others have felt all these things, or none.
Dr Sarah Davidson, head of psychosocial services at The Red Cross, has helped on the ground at numerous hugely shocking events around the world, from the 2004 Thailand tsunami to the Brussels bombings last year. She says none of us should expect ourselves to react in a certain way.
“There isn’t any one way of doing it, not least because people have had different experiences in their lives, not just on the night,” she says.
“Any consequences people have, particularly in the next six to eight weeks, will be a usual response to an unusual situation.
“The most important thing is there’s no wrong or right way to react.”
Although not everybody will experience it, one of the most common responses in the aftermath of such a trauma is guilt. Those who were there may feel they could have done more – and any one of us may feel we should be doing more right now.
That can, in its own way, be productive, says Dr Davidson, in that it can