Anxiety and mood disorders are extremely common for trauma survivors to experience. It seems only fair to be able to express the frustrations we kept hidden inside for far too long. However, allowing these emotions to infuse chaos into our lives only makes us feel ickier inside. It can also feel unfair to be plagued with mood dysregulation because of something experienced that we didn’t ask for and that was beyond our control, and like it’s easier to simply blame the trauma and embrace it than move past it. When we feel we were unjustly burdened, naturally we feel angry and it is difficult to express this in a healthy way.
Part of why mood disorders and anxiety develop after trauma is that they are manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder. You may have problems falling or staying asleep, and this can lead to increase irritability and outbursts. Or you may be easily startle and your heightened startle response, when activated, can cause a panic attack. In many cases, post-trauma, if startled as a prank, sufferers can become enraged. PTSD and mood dysregulation are fundamentally interconnected.
Staying angry and letting this manifest in ways that hurt our relationships with others is a self-destructive coping mechanism that will eventually affect our health and happiness irreversibly. That’s why it’s important not only to acknowledge we are unable to control our mood swings, feelings of panic and anxiety, or fits of anger that developed after a traumatic experience but become determined to break the cycle. This is the first step in the process of letting go.
Keeping a log of what triggers you and your response to each trigger can be helpful for identifying how to overcome these issues. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy are common in treatment. Support groups can also be extremely helpful. The important thing is to acknowledge that mood swings are affecting your live in a negative way and focusing on what to do to feel more centered.
Because trauma tends to take away feelings of control and this is naturally uncomfortable, the aftereffects can lead to symptoms over which we feel we have no control. However, this isn’t the case. This is simply a mental blockage that continues to plague trauma survivors after a successful escape, physically.
You do have control over your actions and reactions. You are in the driver’s seat. Identify and release the mental burden of trauma. Then, determine how to reintroduce balance.