Emotional wound is a negative experience or a set of experiences that causes pain on a deep psychological level that can leave us feeling unsafe or helpless. The negative experience can be a loss of a loved one through death,  bad break up or divorce, been abused or bullied for longer period of time, car accident, surviving of abuse and emotional negligence, witnessing a crime, financial hardship,  unexpected pregnancy, bankruptcy, loss of property, subjected to discrimination and humiliation etc 

Emotional pain is recognized by the brain as an actual physical pain. The same flooding of neurotransmitters and pain relievers occurs with both types of wounds. 

Physical wounds can be recognized easily because they are visible, that you can see the wound or bleeding. Emotional wounds have both emotional and physical evidence. Anxiety and pain are emotional signs and loss of appetite and anxiety related sickness are physical signs.  

When a person is emotionally wounded, they can feel he/she is worthless. So they can be disconnected with other people, act like they are emotionally numb. it can be misunderstood that they are cold hearted people. 

Due to the lack of interest and enjoyment from life, people do not pay much attention to their personal care. Perhaps they may engage in risky behavior.

They try to avoid more and more anything that reminds them what hurt them in the past. They may have nightmares or flashbacks, so that they can’t move on even though they want to. 

Someone can’t be happy if they’ve got an emotional wound. So it is important to identify if a person is emotionally wounded, otherwise they are misunderstood, can be subjected to bullying, humiliation further can make the condition worse which can lead to depression and eventually ending the life. 

Emotional healing is possible. Through love and understanding, emotional wounds can be healed. Just like healing a physical wound, an emotional wound can also be healed. If you have a physical wound you need to pay attention to the wound and assess its condition. If it is a minor wound or cut, it will heal on its own. If the wound is bigger you need to clean the wound, apply some medications, and stitching or bandaging should be done. Failure to clean out the wound effectively can lead to infection.  Healing from an emotional wound works much the same way. 

What can we do to heal emotional wounds? 

Realizing that you have an emotional wound is the first step. Emotional wounds are difficult to spot because they have been hidden or denied for so long. So realizing you are emotionally hurt is important. 

After realizing you should assess whether it is manageable or you need help. If you couldn't assess your ability to manage your trauma accurately, the conditions may get worse with time.  

Identify  the cause. Something happened in the past, long ago, still can hurt you even though you are not aware of that. You don’t remember what happened, but still you feel the pain. To release the pain you should find the actual root of it. You can do it by examining yourself honestly or you can meet with a qualified therapist or counselor. 

It is important that you have someone to share your feelings with. Someone who will listen attentively without judging you. You can talk with trusted family members, close friends or a  counselor. Avoid spending too much time alone. 

If you don’t have friends, make new friends.  Take a music class, art class, dancing class or language class or join a club to meet new people. 

Stay away from negative people. When someone has an emotional wound their personality changes. They act emotionally numb, disconnected. They do not trust other people. They engage in risky behavior or they do not pay attention to their personal care, neglecting life goals etc. If the person is surrounded by toxic people, they accuse him/her for their behavior without understanding them, making things harder for their recovery. Remember that, only  through love and  understanding emotional healing is possible. Some envious people take advantage of emotionally hurt people to hurt them. Therefore staying away from such people is important. Help other people, trauma accompanied with a sense of helplessness. By helping others you can overcome this, and strength and power can be reclaimed.  

Take care of your health by taking a balanced diet, getting a good sleep, avoiding alcohol & drugs, reducing stress, and maintaining personal hygiene. 

If someone you love suffers from an emotional wound, don’t judge them, be patient and understanding. Remember that, recovery takes time. Support them to get back on to normal life and to relax and socialize. Be available for them if they want to talk. Don’t force them to open up and express how they feel. Just let them know you are there, if they want to talk about it.  People become irritated,emotionally distant and angry when they have an emotional wound. Don’t take them personally.

Emotional trauma is resulted due to experiences that leave us feeling deeply hurt and unsafe. They can last a long period of time, hidden inside of a person, difficult to identify, and reducing the quality of life. Emotional wounds can be healed through love and understanding, but it can take time.