I think sometimes it might be necessary to create a bit of a buffer between the truama and "dealing with it." When it's still fresh it can be hard to regulate one's emotional state, and it's nigh impossible to "deal" when the thoughts of the situation/event send you in to a really bad emotional state of panic and endless rumination because you either lack the tools for emotional regulation, or utilizing them doesn't even come to mind in the first place. A mind under psychological distress is a messy dark place, and only after the fact do you look back on things and wonder why you spent such a long time suffering instead of working yourself out of it.
Some do need to escape from the reality to get a bit of relief, and can't handle the confrontation directly too much. That is understandable.
But, the panic/anxiety surrounding the trauma after the fact is often due to resistance of experiencing the emotions/memories associated with the event. Allowing the 'bad' feelings in and going through those feelings is most always going to be healing.
