Category: Uncategorized

There are many symptoms and physical manifestations of stress & trauma, the more you know and recognize them the easier it will be to understand both your own reactions and those of others.

Common symptoms of stress and trauma

– Headaches
– Constipation or diarrhea
– Bed wetting
– Irritability and aggression
– Guilt, shame, or self-blame
– Substance abuse
– Sexual promiscuity
– Difficulty concentrating
– Poor desicion making
– Poor short term memory
– Hard to learn new things
– Feelings of mistrust and betrayal
– Depression and hopelessness
– Self harm
– Suicidal thoughts
– Feeling alienated and alone
– Being in a “bubble”
– Physical aches and pains

Three categories of symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS) 

– Re-experiencing traumatic memories
– Avoiding anything that brings back traumatic memories
– Increased anxiety and emotional arousal

1. Re-experiencing traumatic memories

– Intrusive, upsetting memories
– Flashbacks
– Nightmares
– Feelings of intense distress
– Intense physical fight/flight reactions (pounding heart, rapid breathing, nausea, muscle tension, sweating)

 2. Avoidance and numbing

– Avoiding activities, places, thoughts, or feelings
– Inability to remember things
– Loss of interest in activities and life in general
– Feeling detached from others and emotionally numb
– Sense of a limited future

3. Increased anxiety and emotional arousal

– Difficulty falling or staying asleep
– Irritability and aggression
– Hyper vigilance
– Feeling jumpy and easily startled

In children symptoms of PTS can also include

– Fear of being separated
– Compulsive play in which aspects of trauma are included
– Phobias and anxieties that seem unrelated (such as a fear of monsters)
– Acting out traumatic memories through play, stories, or drawings

During 2015 more than one million refugees have come to Europe. Many of them carrying inner wounds from the wars and conflicts they have fled from in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. The psychiatric resources are not enough to help. Waiting time is over one year and more in many countries, which is, of course, totally unacceptable.

We have been working with people in Germany, France, Sweden, Norway and Finland who want to help the refugees manage stress (and trauma). To emphasize the “non-specialist” level of self help that is possible for everyone to do we have chosen to present TTT as a simple relaxation exercise instead of the powerful therapeutic tool it can be – with great success. To do so we simply translate the abbreviation TTT :Tension Tapping Technique (instead of Trauma Tapping Technique).

You can also take initiative and support this spreading of stress management for those in need.

PHN held a workshop at the refugee center Grytan outside Östersund in the north of Sweden. Both refugees, volunteers and staff participated.

The inviting organization ”Hej Främling” wrote on Facebook afterwards:

”Thank you all for joining the Trauma Tapping Technique workshop with Gunilla Hamne tonight! Around 70 people came to learn the TTT, – we really packed the room to the limit!

Thank you Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan for helping out, thank you everyone who bought tickets and made it possible for refugees to join and thank you Samira and Qadir for great translation! We are very happy to see how much appreciated this workshop came to be and we really hope that tomorrows session in Östersund will be just as cool!”

Our colleague in neighboring Finland, Martina Lindroos, who is responsible for Red Cross refugee centers has arranged several workshops with TTT. She has put into system that those refugees who have learnt TTT go to other centers and teach it other refugees.

More can be done with your support! Let 2016 be the year when inner peace can be spread to many more. Pass it on. Pay it forward.