Motor Vehicle Accident Trauma

Motor vehicle accidents can cause far reaching reactions in our bodies that disrupt our quality of life, leave us unable to work, cost thousands of dollars in treatment, and exact untold hours of chronic pain and suffering. A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry (April 1999) determined that most auto accident victims showed symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, that symptoms remain high more than nine months after the accident, and that women are more likely than men to suffer lingering symptoms.
According to a paper, “Victims of Traffic Accidents: Incidence and Prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” (Brom, Kleber and Hofman) accident victims tend to compulsively re-experience parts of the accident or the whole event. They have a tendency not to remember what has happened, be unwilling to discuss the event, or feel emotionally numb. They experience feelings of guilt, depression, behavioral changes, feelings of anger and anxiety, and sleep disturbances that can last for months or even years.
Other symptoms include being more irritable than usual, gaining or loosing weight, having trouble sleeping, finding yourself suffering from a lack of interest or a greatly increased interest in sex, or simply not feeling like yourself.
When we are unexpectedly involved in a motor vehicle accident our nervous system is instantly aroused to mobilize us for survival. The energy available to us in that life-preserving defense is vast; it is the energy that allows a one hundred pound mother to lift a car and rescue her trapped child even when her muscles tear and bones break. When we cannot defend ourselves through the fight or flee responses, when we cannot respond purposefully, that vast survival energy gets locked into our bodies and our minds.
The energy of the event manifests as trauma symptoms. Our necks and backs brace and seize up in painful spasms. Our nervous system is so aroused that we cannot sleep or rest well. Our minds begin to fret in anxious worry. We may begin to develop a phobia of driving or more general anxieties. When this goes on for months we become fatigued and depressed from the pain, lack of sleep, and feelings of anxiety and helplessness.

Somatic Experiencing as a treatment modality for trauma related to motor vehicle accidents

Somatic Experiencing incorporates techniques and understanding from traditional medical, psychological, and physical therapies. What distinguishes Somatic Experiencing from these traditional treatments is how it identifies and works with what happens in the autonomic nervous system during an overwhelming life event. Shock trauma is experienced directly in the body, affecting us physically even more than emotionally or cognitively. Somatic Experiencing incorporates a strong focus on empowerment, resiliency, and resourcing. Moving through extreme trauma helps people call on powerful capacities within themselves; capacities that, as a hidden gift, can actually lead to a more stabilized existence than before they were injured.