Fighting trauma, stress experts say exercise is key

CEBU, Philippines -  Exercise may just be the best way to ease gradually out of trauma and stress brought about by unpleasant experiences such as calamities and tragedies, a German psychologist said.

In a session on trauma therapy, Matthias Witzel, a psychologist and psychotherapist at the Rehabilitation Clinic for Cancer Patients in Germany, advised journalists who have covered calamities and tragedies to exercise constantly to achieve a state of calm.

"You step back, relax and do some exercises to calm down and to become still and quiet," Witzel said.

Among the events that have most likely affected responders and journalists alike emotionally and psychologically include the collision between two ships - MV St. Thomas Aquinas and Sulpicio Express Siete - in Cebu City; the super typhoon Yolanda, the magnitude 7.2 earthquake; and the conflict between government troops and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) members in Zamboanga.

Witzel said breathing exercises can help manage stress, anger and traumatic fear.

"Balanced deep breathing, conscious breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in body, soul and mind because when a person with tension breathes deeply, he sends a message to his brain to calm down and relax," he explained.

Relaxation techniques like muscle release, yoga and the like, as well as exercising in the gym or engaging in sports can also help, he said.

The "exercise approach," Witzel said, is being used on trauma victims in other countries and has been proven effective, convenient and with zero expense.

In general, exercise can help people who are "insecure, confused, disconnected from the feelings or being numb, cannot sleep and having nightmares and flashbacks," Witzel said.

Signs

Witzel said experiencing too much stress is a clear symptom of a person having trauma.

"Unexpected severe symptoms like headache, stomachache, chest and back pains, nightmares, tensed muscles, increased heart rate, fast breathing, high blood pressure and among others," he said.

These symptoms, he explained, are "normal" especially when a person is exposed or has been exposed to traumatic incidents.

"Sometimes, when we suffer from sudden or prolonged stress, we get mentally blocked and are unable to recall the helpful strategies we usually apply to release tension and find relaxation and inner peace," Witzel said.

Exercise can help address these symptoms but Witzel explained that the coping mechanism of a traumatized and stressed person depends on his/her vulnerability, resiliency, as well as the person's immune system because "every person has different sources and abilities".

It also poses a risk to the person administering the exercise.

"Dealing with traumatic situations or with traumatized people implies a risk to become co- traumatized, or at least, fall prey to mental and physical exhaustion, or to burnout," Witzel said.

Burnout is a chronic condition occurring when the body or mind can no longer cope with overwhelming high demands. It has "extensive" symptoms such as low job performance/satisfaction, physical and emotional exhaustion/fatigue, inability to cope with change/loss of flexibility, decreased communication/withdrawal, physical symptoms, apathy, loss of concern and cynicism.

Witzel said people exposed to political instability, corruption and insecurity have more chances of developing burn out syndrome.

Need to Heal

Charlie Saceda of the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network (Pecojon), organizer of the event, said that when journalists covering disasters or tragedies are too stressed or traumatized, the quality of their work is compromised.

"Journalists are exposed to intense stress and traumatic experiences often disturbing their observation skills, blur their perceptions and have lasting impact, which in extreme cases manifest in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These experiences affect journalist on a personal level but also influence his or her professional ability to present news in a balanced and conflict sensitive way," Saceda said.

Healing is important, said Dr. Sarah Monz, also from Germany, because if stress and trauma are taken for granted, they can take a toll on one's wellbeing.

"These bad pictures of traumatic incidents will stick and stay with us if we don't give our body a chance to heal through exercises and taking a lot of vitamins, minerals, magnesium, folic acid, Zinc and B12 two to three months as temporary treatment," Monz said.

The recent tragedies and calamities have claimed lives and destroyed communities and seeing these things happen bruises the emotional and psychological well-being of those who deal with and chronicle the situations directly.

Pecojon hopes the knowledge of saving one's self from the effects of traumatic experiences would help the people concerned, journalists and authorities among them, do their jobs better even in unpleasant circumstances. — /JMO (FREEMAN)