Acute Exposure to danger
Practitioners who experience fear from an acute danger such as an attack are likely to find that the feelings of fear (fight or flight) overpowers their personal resilience.  The fearful experience can virtually demolish personal resilience almost immediately. The incident can change their internalised perception causing a significant loss in their self concept, self confidence and self esteem. They may experience anxiety related symptoms such as worry, sleep problems and difficulties returning to the place where the incident occurred.

Recovering from the loss of confidence in their ability is difficult and can take a long time. It is difficult for a person to cope with the adversity of returning to a feared place when their emotional resilience is significantly impaired. If they do so, they are likely to remain very sensitive to similar events and can quickly experience feelings of panic.

Their reactions might be similar to post traumatic stress, use avoidance strategies such as hiding, have increased periods of sickness particularly during stressful times, prolonged absenteeism and be more susceptible to feelings of depression.

Over time the symptoms decrease as recovery takes place but in the mean time they may have created subsidiary problems by turning to negative coping strategies such as smoking, drinking, pills, marijuana or other substances to help combat the strong feelings of anxiety