Fatigue After Processing Traumas In Therapy

[BlackbirdSinging]

My therapist and I started processing my traumas. I noticed I dissociate while we talk and process everything. And I usually leave in a daze.

When I get home I'm still a little dazed and I start to feel very tired. It's the kind of tired where I feel emotionally and physically exhausted. It seems to last the rest of the day even if I rest or if I take a nap.

I'm just wondering how common this is. Does this happen to you too? How do you cope with it? How long does it usually last for you?

 

[Chava]

Does your therapist know you're dissociating most of the time? I do sometimes, but that's when I'm not really "processing" anymore. Have you worked on grounding stuff to keep you more present in therapy or are there ways to slow down? That being said, I'm often very tired after therapy, especially if I worked on something pretty deep.

 

[FindingMyself88]

I would say a lot of us feel that way, I know I do. As for the dissociating, have you tried telling your T about this? My T is pretty intuitive and notices when I dissociate. We have several things we do to ground me. She has some eucalyptus oil for me to smell- squishy objects to hold. She changes her decorations frequently and asks me to look around and notice new things. If its really bad we go for a walk outside. Find things you can do to help in session. When I leave after a hard session or doing EMDR, I am pretty exhausted. I will go home and do something comforting- color, read, curl up with Bristol, watch a favorite show.

Be easy on yourself and kind, you are doing some tough work. It is worth it though!

 

[FindingMyself88]

Also sometimes if its more of a daze rather than exhuastion- exercise really helps me. I often will go to my favorite natural trail and walk. Being outside helps ground me and the exercise brings me back to my body.

 

[shimmerz]

Mine would last sometimes a week at a time. My dissociative spells were pretty wild though. I couldn't at the time fight through it and if I did attempt to I would literally fall down stairs, walking the dog, everywhere. It was super scary. I have learned to manage my dissociation now. I would suggest if this is new to you, be very careful how much you push through. I suggest just sleeping if you feel like it and push yourself in safe ways until you get into the swing of how the dissociation affects your ability to function.

 

[Eleanor]

Sleep is SUPER important for consolidating learning and creating new neural connections AND REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT the brain can only get rid of cellular waste products when we sleep. So if your brain is doing a ton of work (neurons firing like mad, burning up whatever little neurons burn up) and creating lots of waste products (cuz that's what cells do) your brain literally can't clean all that stuff out until you go to sleep for a while. And your brain doesn't work as well if it is in a chemical trash soup.

SLEEP when you feel like this. It is absolutely the best thing to do. (Once you've gotten grounded and stopped processing.)

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

Oh yes she knows. We talked about it many times before we started processing my traumas. She taught me many grounding techniques that we use together before I leave.

When we're processing I tend to stare at the floor and it's like I just go numb. A lot of times my head has a floaty kind of feeling. I don't leave until I'm more present. But I do still feel like I'm dazed on the way home.

When I get home I feel like I've run a marathon. I usually make hot tea and either sit outside on the deck or go to my room where I can sit in quiet for awhile.

I was just curious about other sufferers and how they cope with and manage the fatigue after processing trauma. And I wondered about the experiences others have with the fatigue.

 

[FindingMyself88]

I would ask her if you could do some things during the session so you don't dissociate. Dissociating makes processing impossible. I tend to look downwards and my T says I "shrink into myself". So she will stop and ask me to look at her. Sometimes that is difficult due to the shame, so if I can't do that she will ask me to look around the room and notice new things.

 

[BlackbirdSinging]

Sleep is SUPER important for consolidating learning and creating new neural connections AND REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT the brain can only get rid of cellular waste products when we sleep.

This makes so much sense. It's hard at night though because even though I'm exhausted I avoid sleep because I don't want to have nightmares. You can guess how positive the results of this are though. But I did decide I have to go to sleep earlier than I usually do tonight.

 

[FindingMyself88]

I feel for you with the nightmares... I had them almost every night for over a year. They only stopped about 3 weeks ago. It got so bad in December though that I ended up going inpatient to keep from hurting myself.

Try short naps throughout the day if you can- no more than 20 minutes long. It keeps you from going into REM sleep which is where you have the nightmares, but gives your body and mind some rest. My T had me doing this for a while to try and help. It did a little.

 

[Ocean5]

And I wondered about the experiences others have with the fatigue.

I'm new to this, and was thinking about this topic after last visit and since.. 30-45 minutes with psychiatrist who does psychotherapy wipes me out. And we barely get to therapy (not sure) she will asks me a lot why I feel certain ways - about my thinking process to get to those feelings. I see she's trying to get me to see healthier way to view things. Is that therapy session?

Fatigue sooo much... 5-10 minutes after last meeting I felt so weak ...so tried.. How would I get back to apartment? Fatigued for days/weeks after....

 

[Ocean5]

she will ask me to look around the room and notice new things.

I've started this on my own and helpful. Each visit I try to mention/noticed something I've never noticed in her office.. (or maybe she just changes things for patients to notice like you said).