Post-Surgery Trauma: Symptoms and Coping
Surgery is a life-altering event. Enduring a minor or major procedure on the body can affect a patient’s lifestyle drastically. The primary focus of the surgeon is to treat the illness and make sure they help ease the pain that the patient feels from a physical standpoint. Healthcare professionals discuss the physical impacts, but they seem to skip over the mental and emotional struggle. The isolation, sudden loss of independence, and changes in a patient’s body could take a toll on an individual's mind.
Surgical stress is often talked about synonymously with trauma injuries such as car accidents and major falls. Studies that have observed trauma patients have reported that the body heals physically before the brain does. Surgery is essentially disrupting the body's homeostasis, the steady state of functioning. Due to this interruption, the brain tends to take longer to process these wide array of changes.
Symptoms
Post-surgery stress and depression could vary and begin at different stages for every patient. It is important to detect signs of mental trauma. Mayo Clinic describes the symptoms linked to memories, avoidance, mood, and physical and emotional reactions:
Unwanted memories or flashbacks of the event
Upsetting dreams or nightmares linked to the event
Avoiding talking/thinking about the event
Avoiding places, activities, or people that trigger memories
Negative thoughts about yourself and overall a low self-esteem
Feeling detached from loved ones
Emotionally dumb and difficulty experiencing positive emotions
Difficulty sleeping
Easily getting irritated, angry, and frightened