Due to the fact that the physical world is not perfect, like the inventions of people, accidents often happen. And as statistics show, a lot of them happen on the roads. People who have been involved in road traffic accidents, as a rule, are tormented by stress after the accident. What to do in such a situation, most of them do not represent. In this publication, I decided to help these unfortunates find inner peace and learn to trust their reality again, as well as stop being afraid of the outside world and daily events.
To write about how to survive the stress after an accident, I was inspired by a message from one of the readers of the articles on this site. Read his appeal to understand what happened to this man:
I almost ran into a truck yesterday. You could say it was a lucky break. And now it's been shaking for 12 hours. The dream disappeared, my consciousness was confused, I forget where I was going and what I was doing. Heart - 114 beats, pressure - 130/70. Panic mood. Stomach upset. I'm afraid to drive. Adrenaline is soaring. What to do? I don't know myself, let alone my loved ones.
Why does PTSD occur after a car accident?
People believe that they live exclusively in physical reality, and therefore do not find the reasons for what is happening and, accordingly, cannot get rid of the difficulties that they have, succumbing to panic and even falling into hysterics. The most difficult are psychological experiences for the majority. This happens because the energies of the universe primarily affect the subtle level of the organism, its consciousness and subconsciousness. When the energy of the body is in disharmony, the body and mind begin to falter. Therefore, indigestion occurs, thoughts swarm and a feeling of alienation from the usual reality is created. Often this condition is caused by stress that has arisen after an accident or because of an almost accidental accident.
If you understand and accept the fact that every living being exists not only physically, but also in other layers of the universe and realize that energies rule the world, then psychological problems begin to disappear. A man who asks for advice has a strong fear, almost a panic. Such a state is possible when the energy called in feng shui and other esoteric teachings is strong. Physical water is boundless, it is fraught with dangerous deep currents and predatory fish. She has great strength and is able to take life. In winter this energy is very strong. Therefore, it has a negative impact on people who have experienced stress after an accident in the cold season. At the subconscious level, a program of an unpleasant event that caused fear is recorded, and every time the water intensifies, this program is activated.
When a person experiences stress after an accident, then energy is concentrated in her energy, which is called a tree or wind in Feng Shui and esoteric practices. This energy is strong. In the physical world, it is represented by air, wind, hurricane and draft. The airspace seems to be limitless to a person. The wind breaks even strong trees, the hurricane frightens everyone with its force. A draft can cause pain in the physical body and provoke colds. In high concentration, the energy of the tree impairs memory, increases the level of adrenaline, causes fuss, and also has a negative effect on the digestive organs. All this is observed in a man who asked for advice. The energy of the tree is powered by the energy of water. Just as a tree grows in the physical world when it is watered, so the influence of the strong energy of the tree increases when the energy of water is strong. Therefore, one should not be surprised when a negative experience that occurred during the cold season completely unsettles. Severe stress after an accident, panic attacks that worsen in winter are, in principle, the norm.
How to overcome stress and fear?
6. Shungite stone is a very good tool for establishing energy balance in space and in the energy of a particular organism. Water is insisted on this stone, which is then drunk daily several times a day. Shungite paste is also sold, which can be taken orally. Stones should be carried with you. They improve pressure, calm the mind and psyche. For cars, shungite mats are sold, eliminating traffic accidents. Schungite stone was carefully studied by scientists and now its embankments are being created at the crossroads where accidents often occurred. As a result, traffic accidents have almost disappeared there. In order not to get into an accident, buy shungite stones and rugs for your car. Thanks to shungite, stress bypasses a person, even after a long and stressful trip. You can . They deliver shungite all over the world.
7. Bani stone bracelet cures many diseases and relieves various problems that have arisen in the body. Including from:
- release of a large amount of adrenaline;
- increased pressure;
- rapid heartbeat;
- strong feelings;
- fussiness.
To defeat stress after an accident, you should.
Stress relief medications
The most effective medications to help forget stress after an accident include the following:
— ;
— ;
— ;
- "Adaptol";
- "Phenibut";
— Tenoten.
Which of these drugs is best for you?
Procedures to help relieve stress
Stress after an accident disappears faster if you undergo procedures that are beneficial for the body and psyche:
1. If you have severe anxiety, fears, depression or panic attacks, then you do not have enough heating energies in the energy of the body. So they will help you:
- warming up in the sauna;
- visits to the baths;
- with coffee, chocolate or mustard;
- heating the body.
2. When stress after an accident causes an increase in pressure, increased heart rate, strong adrenaline rushes and contributes to a state where thoughts are confused, it is necessary to recover with a cold. To do this, spend at least an hour and a half outside during the day. It is advisable to do this before bed. Sleep in a cold, unheated room. Cooling will be easier for you to perceive if you start taking zinc tablets. Water should be drunk cold, settled in the refrigerator.
3. If the stress that has arisen after the accident immediately causes an increase in pressure and a state of intense fear, it is necessary to relax. In this case, meditation with lit incense and massage by a professional massage therapist will help. When meditating, one should think only about the good, remember the joyful events of the past, completely distracting from thoughts about the negative of the recent event. Massage should be ordered for general or for the neck and head. You need to meditate daily. Massage procedures can be done every two or three days.
Activity reduces stress
It has long been known that adrenaline decreases with activity. And the feeling of anxiety is forgotten if you load your mind with some tasks. If you feel a lot of stress after an accident, fussiness, nervousness, psychosis, irritability and almost hysteria, then you should work physically at least six hours a day. You need to do this for three days in a row. If the situation does not improve, then you need to continue to load yourself physically, for example:
- playing sports;
- cleaning the apartment;
- clearing sidewalks from snow;
- sweeping the yard
- washing clothes by hand;
- washing windows or shop windows;
- dragging weights.
Feelings of anxiety, fear and panic attacks occur when the mind is not loaded with mental activity. Only constant mental stress helps to get rid of unnecessary thoughts and experiences. To forget the stress after an accident, you can start:
- solve mathematical problems;
- solve crossword puzzles;
— .
When all thoughts are focused on solving some problems, the mind is completely distracted from the negative experience. True, until this happens, more than one month of increased distraction of consciousness from the unpleasant events of reality will pass. But in any case, you should not give up, you need to change the way you think and load yourself physically and mentally in order to forget the stress after the accident.
Blurred road, ice, the usual inattention on the part of the driver or pedestrian can provoke an accident on the road. It's good when everything ends well: minimal bruises, the integrity of the car. And if a person dies ... a loved one?
Accident "I escaped with only a fright"
Often, people who have been in an accident on the road for a long time cannot psychologically calm down from the experienced shock. Trips to psychologists, fear of roads, cars. Sometimes, victims avoid transport and roads for a long time, where there are a great many of them. How to survive this? Over time, help from a psychologist and the support of loved ones will help get rid of the fear of the roadway. You need to calm down, exhale and understand that what happened did not take away either your life or the lives of other people. With the understanding that everything ended well, peace will come.
Often, the stress of a small accident passes quickly, and reckless drivers get behind the wheel again, and pedestrians cross the road without fear, but with caution.
In case of partial loss of balance as a result of complications after an accident, wheelchair walkers will be an excellent helper. With them, it will become easier to move around and function normally.
Ways to find psychological peace:
1. Stop blaming yourself;
2. Rejoice that everything ended well;
3. A promise to yourself to avoid emergency situations in the future;
4. Firm confidence in a happy "tomorrow" and that the incident with an accident will not happen again.
5. Firm and constant support from loved ones. This is the most important way to overcome stress, fear from an accident.
Accident "I LOST A RELATED PERSON"
Mental recovery in case of loss in an accident is not easy to achieve even for the strongest person. Especially if it's the driver whose passenger died. Often the feeling of guilt for death consumes a person and kills him. Outcome: suicide or psychological deviations. It is very difficult to cope with this if you are alone and there is no support nearby.
It is hard to survive the death of a loved one in a car accident, regardless of their status in your life. Here we need the help of qualified specialists in the person of psychologists, the support of loved ones and relatives, as well as our own desire for peace of mind.
People are always responsible for accidents. Therefore, in order not to worry psychologically, not to blame yourself, it is worth remembering that it is better to come home at 21:00 than to rush an hour earlier and not arrive at all ...
The problem of psychological rehabilitation of drivers after an accident stands apart from other issues related to traffic. A person got into an accident, after that he feels bad either psychologically or physically, and maybe in both senses. How should he be, what should he do so that every time you get behind the wheel, your nerves do not burst from tension? We are all different. Someone can be “turned on” by any trifle, a sidelong glance, a seemingly harsh word, not to mention a real state of emergency, to which a traffic accident can also be attributed. And someone will look at this problem philosophically. Of course, we all know about the existence of post-accident syndrome. But we are not 100% sure of this.
Everyone who has been involved in an accident, and the vast majority of them, can try to remember their feelings, primarily negative ones, associated with this unpleasant event. If a lot of time has passed since the accident, say, several years, then the severity of emotions decreases. Psychologists are inclined to believe that unpleasant memories tend to be gradually forced out of consciousness. They, of course, do not disappear without a trace, just a person ceases to be aware of them. Therefore, these memories cease to be memories, plunging into the abyss of the unconscious. This is a natural defensive reaction. I think that the process of immersing unpleasant memories into the subconscious takes place to one degree or another in every person. But it is unlikely that it is expressed in the fact that any person sooner or later drives any memory of any unpleasant event into the subconscious. If this were the case, people would not remember anything bad from the past. Only good, only what is associated with positive and pleasant sensations. At the same time, we need unpleasant memories as much as good ones. We need them in order to effectively cognize this world. Unpleasant memories can be a source of invaluable experience if you take the trouble to carefully and patiently analyze them. By shaking off laziness and showing a willingness to constantly learn and improve, we can get a lot out of bad memories. Likewise, a driver involved in an accident can turn this unpleasant event into the next step for moving up the ladder of professional growth. To do this, it is necessary to carefully analyze everything that is somehow connected with a particular accident. For an inexperienced driver, an accident is in most cases completely unexpected. Otherwise, if the driver expected some kind of trouble, he would take some countermeasures. Often the driver can never figure out the reasons for what happened and, moreover, benefit from this situation. Remember the saying: "For one beaten they give two unbeaten"? Experience is of great importance in the life of any person, including the driver. “I hit” - I thought, I drew conclusions, henceforth I behave in such a way that in the future, if possible, I do not step on the same rake. This is the most optimal scenario for the development of events. But there are other, not so pleasant possibilities.
For example, the accident was so serious that the driver received severe injuries resulting in disability. In this case, the death of the driver (not to mention the fact that other road users, pedestrians, passengers or other drivers may also suffer) may not be the worst outcome. Let's remember an accident on Minskaya Street this fall, when a drunk driver knocked people down at a bus stop. I know drivers who have hit pedestrians with various consequences, some to death. One was a truck driver. He was hit by a drunk pedestrian. Another knocked down a grandmother who was crossing the road in a "wrong" place. Both drivers successfully continued their driving careers. Both drivers were sober, and the pedestrian was hit in both cases through no fault of theirs. Perhaps some other driver in their place would have received a serious psychological trauma. Probably, immediately after the accident, they did not feel very comfortable. However, this did not prevent them from returning to a full life. Experience makes the driver less impressionable, more thick-skinned, so to speak, more pragmatic, and perhaps even more cynical. Drivers with great experience during their driving career manage to see so many different things, both funny and sad, that the sight of a downed pedestrian on the side of the road or several corpses in a mangled car no longer make a special impression on them. This is also a defensive reaction. A person (not just a driver) tries to think less about the bad. On the one hand, this is good. The psyche is not overloaded with negative emotions. But there are also negative points. The feeling of danger is gradually dulled, and what actually carries serious risks is not perceived as such. There is habituation. And the consequences of such addiction can be deplorable.
The long-term consequences of an accident involving a driver can be very different. I gave two examples proving that some people can survive this kind of stress quite easily. However, very often drivers after a serious accident, especially if people were injured as a result, are simply afraid to drive at first. The stress can be so strong that in exceptional cases it leads to a complete refusal to drive in the future.
In the most common case, the driver after an accident still gets behind the wheel of a car, but for obvious reasons feels stiffness, tension, anxiety. Another car crashed into the young woman's car at a traffic light from behind. A slight concussion, emotional stress accompanying a sharp and unexpected blow, makes a woman at that moment acutely, literally with every particle of her body, feel completely defenseless against the blind force of chance. Fear appears in the soul, although the danger seems to have already passed. Excessive fear makes it difficult to objectively assess risks. He demoralizes his victim, and now she is afraid of every rustle. She begins to expect a potential threat from every driver. It seems to a woman that as soon as she stops, someone will definitely crash into her from behind. In this situation, the help of a professional psychologist may be required, but rather the advice and practical recommendations of an experienced specialist in safe driving. A good driving instructor must be a psychologist to some extent. Such specialists work in the GARANT-SAFETY Driving Excellence Center (www.drivesmart.ru, www.guarantor-safety.rf), which we have already mentioned. The training methods developed at the center make it possible to effectively solve the psychological problems associated with the adaptation of drivers after accidents.
Everyone understands that road traffic is a dangerous process. Since metal objects weighing a ton or more move along the roads at speeds significantly exceeding the speed of the average pedestrian, and these metal objects are driven by living people who tend to make mistakes, then various kinds of accidents seem simply inevitable. However, statistics and analysis show that the proportion of preventable accidents exceeds 95%. This suggests that in the vast majority of cases, the road accident participants had a real opportunity to avoid trouble. But for some reason, they either did not take the actions that they could, in principle, take, or were not ready for such a development of the situation, which ultimately led to an accident. In fact, the driver, namely the driver in most cases is and is recognized as the culprit of the accident, had all the possibilities at his disposal to prevent an unfavorable development of events. The driver could not take advantage of these opportunities for the following reasons. We will take the most common reasons (factors) according to research data given in the book "Transport Psychology" (D. Klebelsberg, 1989)
- distraction;
- Underestimation of danger;
- Fearfulness and dangerous habits;
- Forecast errors.
Sergey Lobarev,
Director of the Central Driving School "Safety",
Chairman of the Board of the Non-Profit Partnership Guild of Driving Schools
A well-deserved award from the Federation of Motorists of Russia
The Federation of Motorists of Russia awarded the director of the Moscow Central Driving School with an honorary award "For Contribution to Socially Beneficial Activities" in the field of road safety.
Non-profit partnership "GUILD OF DRIVING SCHOOL" of Russia recommends:
The training centers of the educational holding "Central Driving School of Moscow" are the key to high-quality and safe driving education!
NOTE! NP "GUILD OF DRIVING SCHOOL" Russia warns:
If the cost of training in a Moscow driving school is below 19 thousand rubles, it is possible that this driving school does not have a traffic police conclusion, works according to old programs, does not fully conduct training, and you may have difficulty passing exams in the traffic police.
The head was intact and retained complete clarity of thought. When the glass cut the femoral artery, Lyudmila felt that life was flowing out of her along with the blood. She tried to pinch the artery until her fingers weakened. Already on a stretcher, with tourniquets applied, she found the strength to emerge from oblivion and name her blood type.
The operation went well. The doctor said that she was born in a shirt: no mobility restrictions are expected, no crutches - perhaps even a slight limp will not remain. Of course, recovery will take time.
Lyudmila herself, like many after returning “from there”, felt euphoria: she dreamed of filling life with new meaning, enjoying every moment, not worrying about trifles ...
The body was healed for the first five months. Between procedures, she read a lot, including poetry, the existence of which she had forgotten for twenty years. She remembers this time as very happy: a renewed, bright feeling of life. It seemed that after what she had experienced, there was nothing to be afraid of.
But the very first attempt to get behind the wheel again presented problems. From a short trip around the city, Lyudmila returned in a cold sweat. All the dangers that lie in wait for the driver on the city streets seemed so vivid and real to her that she crossed every intersection, as if under shelling. There was a sudden threat around every corner.
The next test was the sound of breaking glass. The bottle thrown by the boys into the garbage container plunged her into a state of panic: her heart was pounding, her skin became wet ... Then she noticed that all sharp and shiny objects frighten her - not only broken glass, but also kitchen knives, tools ... In rainy weather at night, with a strong gusty wind, she lay awake, waiting for the wind to squeeze out the window panes and scatter them around the room.
Gradually, her fear spread to a variety of things that had nothing to do with the misfortune experienced. Crowding in the subway, a low-flying plane, Chinese fireworks, even just taking the elevator...
Like many survivors of a disaster, attack, war, or other terrible event, she lost her faith in a safe and predictable world. The normal nonchalance that most of us wear like body armor has left her. It seemed to her that the barrier between life and death had become as thin as a cobweb.
She did not think that all her countless fears were somehow connected. She didn't know the phenomenon had a name: PTSD.
Where is the fear?
According to statistics, three out of four face a traumatic event at least once in their lives. And a quarter of those who have experienced trauma experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress: excitement, haunting memories, nightmares, insomnia, detachment, insensibility.
For most people, symptoms resolve within a week, month, or year. For some, they get worse over time. At the same time, the possibility of their treatment is reduced.
This phenomenon was first studied when American doctors working with Vietnam War veterans encountered the syndrome. However, it was known to physicians in the last century, not without reason, after two world wars, the term "traumatic neurosis" appeared.
Two or three decades ago, most psychiatrists considered PTSD to be a purely emotional reaction to an event. Few have thought about whether there is a connection with the neurochemistry of the brain.
Since the mid-1980s, a new generation of specialists has emerged, trained in both psychiatry and neuroscience. It was they who discovered that moments of extreme horror change the chemistry and perhaps even the structure of the brain. And it doesn't matter if it was momentary horror during an accident or prolonged stress during a war.
Biochemistry
Transformation begins immediately at the moment of a threat to life. Our nervous system, knocked out of normal mode into survival mode, releases a powerful dose of adrenaline and other substances that prepare the body for fight or flight. Everyone who has experienced at least once an “adrenaline attack” knows this feeling of clarity of consciousness, quickness of reaction, an unexpected surge of strength, thanks to which people with the most modest physical abilities literally set speed records, jump over two-meter fences, climb tall trees along a smooth trunk. ..
When life is endangered for a long time, the body releases other hormones, including cortisol and endogenous opiates. They suppress inflammation, muffle the pain.
But these life-saving biological mechanisms in extreme situations can have a negative impact on the brain. Excessive doses of adrenaline can impair memory and learning ability, in some cases they can cause amnesia.
The state of biochemical "anxiety" persists in people who fought in "hot spots" many years later. Doctors have discovered elevated levels of adrenaline in the urine of traumatized Vietnam veterans twenty years after the end of the war.
What to do?
● Do not hide from yourself or from those around you your problems. It is necessary to talk about them with loved ones, or with a specialist psychotherapist. You can keep a record of your feelings. The last option is good because you can do it at any time of the day. For example, waking up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. Few dare at this moment to wake up loved ones or even call the doctor.
● Do not hesitate to contact the experts. After major accidents, terrorist attacks, the authorities usually inform the population on which phones you can find professional support.
What techniques do psychologists and psychotherapists use?
For example, the "flooding" technique, when the patient again and again revives the traumatic event in his memory, visits a place that reminds him of this, tells again and again about how it happened. For most people, the severity of experiences after this is dulled.
Another technique is processing with the help of eye movement. Within an hour or an hour and a half, the patient restores the circumstances of the traumatic event, while moving his eyes from side to side following the doctor's finger. When this technique was proposed in the late 80s, no one believed that it worked. Today, however, many well-known experts admit that they are amazed by the results. Veterans who have suffered from nightmares for decades have gotten rid of them in a single session.
Road transport accounts for the lion's share of accidents - up to 80%, according to world statistics. Among drivers, it is customary to discuss the complexity of repairs, damages and legal aspects (who is to blame, how to behave in court) of an accident. And at the same time they forget about psychological trauma. But in vain. After all, even a minor accident can significantly affect the driver - after an accident, many people are terribly afraid not only to get behind the wheel, but even to drive as a passenger. In addition, such trauma can lead to problems in family life and work.
"Today", with the help of specialists from the "Korda Profi" counter-emergency training center and the "Imago" center for practical psychology, found out how to survive stress with minimal losses.
SYNDROME FRONTIER
In the literature on psychiatry, the phrase "Afghan syndrome" is often used (for the first time it began to appear after a survey of veterans of the war in Afghanistan). It means a constant feeling of threat to life, fear of death, pain, excessive suspicion, obsessions. The medical name is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite the fact that the drivers involved in road accidents, in the vast majority of cases, have never been to war, very often they experience the syndromes characteristic of war. “A year has passed since the accident, and when I get behind the wheel, I feel the danger with my back and the back of my head, even when the road is empty. I really feel that I’m about to get into an accident again, ”driver Alexei M. from Kyiv shares his problem.
This kind of disorder, if you do not seek help from a psychologist, can lead to serious problems. So, psychotherapist Tatyana Nazarenko spoke about a patient who had gone so far as to be afraid to get into transport in general. At the same time, he became irritable and aggressive, which led to problems in the family. Another patient became overly superstitious and ruined relationships with loved ones - it seemed to him that he was jinxed by envious people.
“Often they try to treat stress with vodka or pills. Literally in a year of such “therapy”, addiction and health problems will add to PTSD,” the expert says.
Firstly, in no case should you reproach yourself for an accident for a long time - you acted according to the knowledge and skills that you had at that time. Secondly, you need to realize that fear is a natural reaction of the body, caused by the instinct of self-preservation. And if a person has already been in an accident, when the threat to his life and / or health (including mental) was palpable, then the body seems to be trying to prevent its repetition. And the driver is faced with the task of persuading himself that in the event of a repeat of the emergency, you can get out of it. To do this, you need to scroll through it several times in your head (looking at the situation from the side as if watching a video), and then discuss it with an experienced driver or an instructor from one of the driver training centers. This will allow you to understand what car driving skills were not enough, to study them in a closed area (where there is nothing to be afraid of) and work out to automatism - so that when a danger arises, a conditioned reflex will work.
SHIELD FROM CRITICISM
Those who are in an accident, novice drivers (especially women), are very often close, without realizing it, instill complexes - they say offensive words or demotivate with phrases like “I told you”, “it’s too early for you”, “not yours” and the like (in including using profanity). This kind of information processing, albeit with the best of intentions, can plunge a person into depression. In addition, it is dangerous if the driver still dares to drive, the spoken phrases can set you up for a new accident. Therefore, it is better to immediately agree with relatives and friends not to discuss this topic. And if one of your loved ones has been in an accident, give him maximum psychological support. Indeed, according to the experts we interviewed, the sooner a person starts driving again after an accident, the easier it is for him to get rid of the fear of getting into an accident again.
HOW TO BEFORE YOURSELF AFTER A RTA: 5 TIPS
1. Relax. Even if the accident is minor (small scratches), it is better not to plan trips on this day, but to take a break. Even with a minor accident, a person releases adrenaline and you need to give the body time to return to normal.
2. Mood. Whatever is done is for the better. Perhaps the guardian angel allowed you to get into a small accident so that you would not get into a major accident on the same day. In addition, experience is always comprehended by trial and error.
3. View from the side. Analyze the accident, but imagine that you are not driving, but someone else.
4. Help from specialists. If the stress does not go away on its own, only a psychologist will help. And additional knowledge and correct driving skills can be fixed only with the help of a professional instructor. An adviser-neighbor can only aggravate the situation.
5. Timing. A few days after the accident, it is advisable to get behind the wheel again. Let it even be an auto instructor. Otherwise, skills will quickly be lost, which will exacerbate fear.
