Dealing with "one awful moment." (recovering from major trauma)

Recovering from an ordinary stressful event in life can be a difficult task, but how does one recover from a major trauma--rape, natural disaster, perhaps even a death that person accidentally caused?

The first step is the realization that events affect different people in different ways. Emotional scars typically result from such major traumas, but, depending on a person's mental strength and psyche, they also can result from something as seemingly minor as getting passed over for a promotion, notes Jacqueline Cook, family therapist and associate professor of family medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

The major result of one "awful moment" is that the universal human illusion of personal specialness--the "I never thought it would happen to me"--belief is stripped away. In the case of victims of rape or other physical crime, the sense of personal violation is even greater. After an accident or assault, most people normally feel unsafe, are easily startled, and are overly vigilant. However, this is a condition that time usually will cure.

"Initially, a person will have to cope with the emotional, and sometimes physical, shock and trauma of the incident itself. The next move is to absorb what has happened and begin to move on, to work through the range of emotions and through the mourning period, if there has been a death. Support groups can be very beneficial with this. It is very important for the person to avoid a feeling of isolation. It's also important to be able to talk and share feelings with...