Often, we don’t think about our trauma as something that we carry in our bodies, but the truth is that the impact of traumatic experiences lives on in the brain long after they occur.

When you experience trauma, your body kicks into survival mode. Your blood pressure rises, and stress hormones like cortisol flood your body, either dulling or sharpening your senses and memory. In some cases, these are helpful physiological responses—but when you go through a particularly traumatic experience or spend a prolonged period of time living in a stressful environment, you can get stuck in survival mode.

Trauma changes how we experience the world, partly because of how it changes our brains. We often think we should ‘get over’ the bad things that happen to us—but enduring wounds isn’t the same as healing them. To heal, we have to understand the impact trauma has on us.

Changes in the Brain

Structure & Function

I am constantly astounded by the incredible complexity of the human body, and how well-adapted it is to survive. Our bodies even adapt in response to traumatic experiences. Research has shown that going through traumatic experiences or prolonged periods of extraordinary stress can shrink the size and shape of different regions of your brain. The two areas most frequently impacted are the amygdala and hippocampus. These regions of the brain play key roles in the regulation of emotion and the development of memory.

Here are some of the ways that can impact you:

• Increased Anxiety

• Hypervigilance

• Irritability & Outbursts

• Difficulty Learning

• Gaps in Memory

Regulating Emotion

If you find yourself having difficulty processing or regulating your emotions, it may be the result of a traumatic experience. It’s not unusual for survivors of traumatic events such as sexual assault, loss of a loved one, or childhood abuse, to experience intense bursts of emotion. When anger, depression, and sadness come bubbling up at unwanted times, they have a nasty tendency to leave a mess in their wake.

In many cases, this difficulty regulating emotion leads to problems at home and at work or school. It also leads to an increased risk of substance abuse. When people’s lives are out of balance, they’ll often find ways to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol—another protective survival impulse that can lead to bigger problems if not kept in check.

Neurotransmitters

Our bodies rely on complex systems of messengers called neurotransmitters to carry signals from one area of the brain to another. These neurotransmitters help control how we feel. After a traumatic event, there’s frequently an increase in the production of cortisol throughout the body. Some people’s bodies stay locked into survival mode after a traumatic experience. Stress hormones like cortisol are useful in helping to sharpen our awareness of danger, but what happens when we feel like it’s time to stand down, but our body won’t let us?

These heightened levels of stress hormones can have a series of long-term impacts on the body, including:

• Increased Fatigue

• Low Libido \ Sex Drive

• Difficulty Sleeping

• Weight Gain

• “Brian Fog”

In addition, high levels of cortisol can also lead to mood swings and other hormonal imbalances.

Moving On

As incredible as it is that our bodies can adapt and change in response to trauma, it can also be terribly inconvenient. Frequently we’re stuck living in survival mode long after we’ve left behind the stresses of dangerous living situations, abusive partners, or toxic family relationships. Importantly, while the damage done by trauma and the scars it leaves are real, our bodies are built to heal.

It’s possible to repair the damage done by trauma through a variety of therapeutic methods. Your life story is more than your trauma. Therapeutic methods like brainspotting can be effective in giving people the tools needed to process and release old trauma. If you’re interested in learning more about your options for trauma therapy, reach out today!