Car Accident Trauma

[BecJade87]

Hello,

My daughter and I were recently involved in a high impact car accident 4 days ago.

We are both okay thankfully. The person hit us from behind at 80km/h, my daughter was in the back seat behind me and absorbed the majority of the impact.
We were stationary on a main road waiting for a family of ducks to cross the road. The person behind us didn't see us and hit us at full impact.

Although we are okay (the ducks unfortunately were not 😞 ), I am struggling to cope. I had surgery weeks prior, the seatbelt ripped my surgery incision open, and also caused seatbelt bruising.

My daughter had swelling to her spine and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Again, we are okay but the flashbacks won't stop, and the awful sounds of my daughters screams keep me up all night.

The doctors have prescribed sleeping tablets, which aren't helping. I am also receiving trauma counselling, I have a lot of resources and I have a lot of supports in place. I tried driving for the first time today which ended up in a panic attack on the freeway. 

Is it just one of those things that takes time to recover from, or does this sort of thing stay with you for life? I am struggling with depression, anxiety and general motivation to get up and go. I feel like I am in danger 24/7 but I am not. I am in the safety of my home with my little girl who is happy and healthy. I don't understand why this feels so hard.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

[indigo22]

Hi BecJade87,

Welcome and thank you for reaching out. I am so sorry you have been through such a frightening experience and it has left you with some trauma to deal with. This is not uncommon so you are not alone. There are many people on the forums dealing with trauma of various kinds so I have a few suggestions for you.

Firstly, have you made use of the help line at Beyond Blue or elsewhere? They can give you support when you are not coping with the feelings you described.

Secondly, have you spoken with the doctors or your GP about the effect this has had on you? It may be that you need to get some help from a counsellor to work through your feelings.

Thirdly, I would suggest having a look through some of the posts in the PTSD an Trauma section of the forums as you may find some helpful information on ways of dealing with what you are feeling from those who have been through a similar experience. You can also use the search button at the top of the page.

We are here to give you support so please feel free to continue this conversation if you are comfortable.

Please take care or yourself and your daughter,

indigo22

[Sophie_M]

Hi BecJade87, 

Thank you for having the courage to reach out and post to the forum, please know that there is a lovely community here ready to support you. We are sorry to hear that you have been having a difficult time, you have been through a lot, please know that it's important to look after yourself at the moment while you process what happened.

We wanted to let you know that is something you could discuss with the counsellors here at Beyond Blue, whether on the phone (1300 22 4636) or via webchat: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support  

Thank you again for posting, it’s a great step to have taken. We hope our community has some insights which may be of comfort to you. 

Kind regards,  

Sophie M   

[indigo22]

Hello again, I have been thinking about your situation and wanted to add something to my earlier post.

A possible reason for why you are having sleeplessness and the feeling of being in danger is that when the body goes through a traumatic experience, there is a cascade of chemicals that the body releases and under normal circumstances, these will abate and the nervous system returns to a normal state when the traumatic event is over. However, because you were worrying about your daughter and her injuries, your body may not have completed the cycle, as a result, your body thinks it is still in the midst of the trauma. There is a therapy called Somatic Experiencing which may help to resolve the trauma. My suggestion would be to talk with your counsellor about this.

indigo22