We can experience trauma and feel like we’ve moved on even though we haven’t. Let’s say there’s a car accident and you get hurt. You might go to the hospital and get treatment, then go home and go back to work immediately the next day.
Everything seems fine and dandy until one day, you’re talking to a coworker about the monthly reports and suddenly an image of a vehicle barreling towards you fills your head. Then, just like that, you feel like you’re having a panic attack and nothing is OK anymore. That’s a normal reaction to trauma, and there are multiple ways of addressing that trauma and finding a way back to normal. The normal may not look like it did before the accident, but rest assured that it does exist.
Thinking without brooding
There’s a fine line between thinking about an incident and searching for answers and obsessing about it. Unfortunately, the latter is common after a traumatic incident. It can happen after someone you love dies or after you go through something that injured you and made you feel, however briefly, that you were going to die. Life is complicated and messy and there aren’t always easy answers.
Flashing back to a moment and reliving it is your mind’s way of trying to make sense of something that just may not make much sense at all. If someone who was texting while behind the wheel mowed down your car and left you with a lifelong disability, you’re never going to really be able to understand what was going through their mind at the time. To that person, it was worth taking a stupid chance, and you ended up being the one who had to pay for it.
Therapy can go a long way towards helping you find something resembling an answer, even if the answer is merely, “I’ll never know for sure.” There’s nothing weak about seeking therapy. In fact, it can be a sign of strength to say that you can’t deal with this on your own anymore.
Taking concrete action
If someone does you wrong, it’s natural to dream of seeking justice somehow. It’s also natural to feel like there’s nothing you can do and that they’re just going to “get away with it” without facing any real consequences for their behavior.
While an obsession with revenge isn’t going to do you or your health any favors, it can be worth exploring if there’s a way to hold someone civilly liable for their negligence. Legally speaking, “negligence” is a tricky term, and there are times where it can be mitigated if the injured party also bears some sort of responsibility for what happened.
If the effects of the injury are lingering and you keep wondering, “What if?” then by all means, look into getting an initial consultation with a lawyer. Make sure to find one in the place where the incident or injury happened.
If you live in Washington State but were injured over the border in Richmond, you’ll need to get a personal injury lawyer Richmond BC. Don’t feel guilty for thinking about suing; it sometimes truly is the best option for holding another party responsible for reckless behavior.
