You stop any activities connected to your trauma. Then you stop any other activities that might trigger you to remember the activities connected to your trauma. Avoidance doesn t stop there. People continue on and drop any interest in activities that they enjoyed before their trauma. They distance themselves from others and avoid intimacy.
People also limit their ability to feel their full range of feelings.
Some people carry this very far, and become almost totally numb. And last, people stop hoping and thinking positive thoughts about their future. They are usually unaware of their avoidance activities. Unfortunately, avoidance can continue for a person s whole life. And it can extend further into all kinds of behaviors that are self-destructive, like drug or alcohol abuse and unhealthy relationships.