How The Body Remembers Trauma

It's never easy to experience trauma. It doesn't matter if the event or situation happened last week, last month, or years ago - it always tends to have a lasting effect.

People can suffer from trauma, or PTSD symptoms, for any number of reasons. It could be caused by a car accident, returning from war, sexual or domestic abuse, bullying, or anything in between. And what one person may consider to be traumatizing another person may not.

Trauma can impact a person in many ways. Most often, the traumatizing experience was so intense that it can actually cause the body to store it in your brain and body. Yes, you read that right. Not only can trauma be remembered in the mind but can affect your physical health, as well. Here are some ways that the body remembers trauma.

How Does The Body Store Trauma?

There are three main areas of the brain that will hold on to trauma, long after the event is over.

Hippocampus

This is the part of the brain that is responsible for processing and storing emotions, and is also where your memories are held. When a traumatic event occurs, it can actually cause the hippocampus to shrink. The result? Your relationship with your memories and what you feel because of them, can become dysfunctional.

Amygdala

The amygdala is the part of the brain responsible for creativity and your thought patterns, such as fixating on something in particular. After a traumatic event, the amygdala is triggered causing you to fixate on things from the past.

Pre-Frontal Cortex

This area of the brain helps you to plan and organize. When trauma occurs, the pre-frontal cortex will actually decrease in functionality. Which can cause impulsive behavior to feel normal to you.

In summary, trauma causes some key areas of your brain to remain hypervigilant and alert.

Trauma Is Stored By The Body, Too

Tension and Pains

Our bodies are naturally programmed to become alert if it senses danger is near(real or perceived.) So after a traumatic event, it is really common for you to feel aches and pains that you can't easily attribute to anything. This tension and pain you feel is your body literally gearing up and preparing itself for impact.

Disturbances In Sleep

Are you not sleeping well anymore? Does it seem as if you don't ever feel fully rested? This can likely be attributed to the trauma you went through. Because your mind is so keyed up, even if you are fatigued, you may find it difficult to sleep. Which is why we often see those who have returned from war, suffering from long-term or periods of insomnia.

Unexpressed Emotions

After a trauma occurs, it is common for many people to just try and shove it away and not think about it. Because in their mind, if they don't think about it, then it can't affect them. It's really common for most people to think this way. However, we now know that even if you aren't actively thinking about something, your body is still remembering it.

So when the emotions and thoughts surrounding a troubling event aren't being expressed, your body finds other ways to do so. From severe headaches, skin issues, digestive issues and more - these could be your body expressing the trauma it sees you trying to ignore.

How To Heal From Trauma

It never really matters when the trauma took place. Even if it was 20 years ago! What matters is that there are ways to begin healing from trauma and living a life less tethered to the past.

I have worked with many clients before who were struggling with trauma and finding no relief. You deserve to find a way out of the past; contact me so you can see for yourself how trauma therapy can help you.