How To Fade Scars Of The Past

If you have had surgery you will have scars, there is no way around it. It is the same way with traumatic experiences. Anyone who goes through any kind of abuse (psychological, physical, or sexual), a serious accident, or natural disasters such as a tornado or earthquake,will have scars as well. It is important that you know that everyone gets scars if they have had a traumatic past, there is no way around that either. Ignoring them will not make them go away but these scars can heal if you acknowledge and treat them. Time does not heal anything, but if you use that time to heal yourself, the scars will fade.

Types of Trauma

There are many types of trauma, some more traumatic than others. In some cases, the trauma is so bad or goes on so long that it causes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The most commonly reported traumatic events that can cause PTSD include:

• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Psychological abuse
• Natural disasters (tornado, earthquake, flood, hurricane)
• Car accident
• Military combat
• Rape
• Assault
• Kidnapping

Who May Be a Victim?

Anyone can be a victim, even children. In fact, children are most often affected by traumatic events bad enough to cause scars through abuse. Even if the child is not the target of the abuse, just witnessing the abuse is traumatic enough to cause PTSD and scars that may not show up until many years later when the child seemingly forgot about the abuse.

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Sometimes, these scars do not show up until the child is an adult and they all of a sudden start having symptoms of PTSD.

Symptoms of PTSD have four different groups, which include reliving events, avoiding certain things, developing negative thoughts, and hypersensitivity.

• Reliving
  • Flashbacks
  • Night terrors or nightmares
  • Bad memories
• Avoidance
  • Avoiding certain memories (places, things, activities)
  • Not wanting to talk about the events
  • Depression
• Developing
  • Numbness
  • Guilt or shame
  • Thinking bad thoughts
  • Blaming yourself
  • Paranoia
  • Inability to be happy
  • Addictions (alcohol or drugs)
• Hypersensitivity
  • Jittery
  • Anticipating danger
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Sleeping difficulty
  • Increasing anger and irritability
  • Jumpiness
  • Panic attacks
  • Suicidal thoughts

Treatment to Fade Scars

The first thing you need to do is to talk to someone. Whether it is a friend, family member, or therapist; you need to tell someone what you are feeling. Talking about it really does help. You may not feel like you are ready to talk to anyone, which is common. There are websites where you can join chat rooms and just observe or you can participate anonymously. You can also talk to a licensed professional online or on the phone if you want to. Once again, you do not have to use your name if you are not ready. You can contact them anytime you feel ready, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Face to face meetings, individual chat rooms, phone calls, and texting are all available online. There are other types of therapy that can help with PTSD. Some of these include:

• Psychotherapy is a form of talk therapy that helps identify bad memories.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy helps change your thinking and behaviors.
• Eye movement desensitization works by creating sounds and sights while you talk about your trauma.
• Exposure therapy is a method of desensitization that works by having you talk about your traumatic past over and over.