Fighting Aftershock

FIGHTING AFTERSHOCK

 

This article was specifically written for the Aftershock Awareness Project that was founded by Dragonwriter (UK) on the 1st of October 2012 and featured in various martial arts magazines at the time.

 

 

There is a remarkable amount of information available on how to deal with a confrontational situation, both before a fight starts and how to defend oneself during an attack, but the subject of how to deal with the emotional after-effects is also a vital part of dealing with such a dramatic situation.

Even the strongest willed person with a good stable mind can suffer great mental problems after being involved in a fight, more so if the situation was of a prolonged and intense period. Soldiers in the field of battle, for example, often return home suffering from various mental health issues after being involved in a prolonged conflict due to the fact that they were not only under the constant threat of being killed, but also in most cases, being exposed to the deaths of others within the field of battle.

 

When it comes to a simple street fight that lasts no more than a few minutes however you would think that such a problem would not apply, and in most cases that is true, but even then the memories, (the true enemy of the situation), will remain in the persons mind for a short time, or forever, in the case of a full on conflict.  It is those memories, which often could last a lifetime in some cases, that are the real problem after being involved in such a situation.

 

The most used form of therapy when dealing with people suffering with trauma is to provide a combination of medical treatment, such as anti-depressants, and an on-going course of counselling that helps them to come to terms with the situation, but this sadly does not always work, and in that event people can become mentally ill permanently or even end up taking their own life as a result.

 

People of course are all different and they will find their own way to come to terms with their difficulties, with varying degrees of success, but in my own personal case I have found that replaying events back in my mind over and over again works for me.

 

My own personal method of dealing with trauma I call the 'Old Film Method' which involves simply replaying events in my mind repeatedly over and over again until those events in my mind become so boring that they become a faded, but not of course a fully forgotten, memory.

 

Most people of course will say that you should not dwell on such bad and painful memories as it will make you feel more ill and they will also further say that you should try to forget such painful events, but by repeating those bad memories constantly, it could have the same effect as watching a film that you hate a lot and being made to watch it for 24 hours a day until it becomes so boring you cannot watch it anymore. By using this method your bad memories would become so boring, like an old movie, they would just simply fade away to a degree that they are no longer painful.

 

Most people will try to hide and forget a bad or traumatic memory but by doing this the memory will come back time and time again in a painful way therefore rather than hide from your bad experience keep remembering it until it becomes like an old movie that you can no longer have the time for.

 

Although this method works for me it may not work for you, each of us therefore must find our own way of coming to terms with our trauma and bad memories and of course seek expert medical advice at all times.