What is Trauma?

​

Trauma is the result of exposure to experiences that, at the time, were 

too intense for our organism to respond to, make sense of and integrate

in a coherent fashion. It is then a grouping of defensive reactions to

stimulus overload which causes disruptions to the flow of information

and energy within the systems of the mind, body and spirit.

​

These experiences can find their way into the control room of the ‘self’ and take over the wheel thus driving the way we think, feel, sense, and act. 

 

The following are examples of events that can bring about a deep personal reaction physically, mentally and emotionally (trauma). This list is not exhaustive and experiencing one or more of these events does not mean you are traumatized as experience is subjective.

 - Sudden loss of family member, friend

 - Betrayal 

 - Natural or man made disasters

 - Illness in self or others

 - Accident or medical procedure                      

 - The witnessing of an accident, crime or abuse

 - Forced displacement                 

 - Experiences related to war or political violence

 - Physical, sexual, emotional, ritual abuse or neglect    

 

How does it affect me? - The technical stuff (Not interested? Skip to SYMPTOMS)

 

Our mind has an amazing mechanism for protection that is evident in one who has experienced these difficulties. In the face of a perceived threat, a portion of our brain called the limbic system jumps into action secreting hormones that activate our sympathetic nervous system. Our respiration and heart beat increase as blood is flushed into the muscles to give us the necessary oxygen and energy for fighting off an attacker or running away.

​

If we endure a prolonged threat, our limbic system realizes that fleeing is not an option. In this case, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated to produce a freezing response. Survivors often describe this as a separation of mind from body devoid of fear and pain. They may recall floating above the experience, seeing it from a distance or visually morphed in some way. 

​

Memory and Experience

​

Two crucial parts of the limbic system are the amygdala and hippocampus which function in processing and storing memories. The amygdala is associated with implicit, subconscious storing of memories within bodily sensations and emotions. The hippocampus sets memory within time and space and is associated with explicit memory or the factual recollection of memory. Research shows that during an experience deemed traumatic, the amygdala is highly activated while the hippocampus is suppressed.

​

For this reason the intense event is not processed and stored based on factual, sequential events. Instead, it remains in subconscious bodily sensations, emotions or thoughts without an anchoring in the past.

​

This tangled and confused energy within the body and mind can then cause us to act, think and feel in ways 'as if' our present experience is the same as the past trauma-inducing situation.

 

Most healing protocols work to help process the memory in order to unravel the confusion and unlock the experience within your nervous system.

​

What are the symptoms?

​

The following list offers examples of symptoms you might experience. These symptoms are all protection strategies that most likely kept you safe when you needed them. By working/sensing/processing through trauma's location in the nervous system, these strategies can be relieved of their duties as your body learns that the threat is over.

​

• Dissociation – The act of being in one place physically while the mind floats away from the present. It can feel like you are living in a day dream that comes and goes and makes it difficult to maintain focus in classrooms, offices, and even conversations. This is associated with the human self-protective freeze response but can become an intrusive part of your day or a way of avoiding emotions and sensations.

​

• Triggers – Something external to you that facilitates an internal link to your past experience. It is a hypersensitivity to smells, sounds, sights, words or being touched. When you are triggered you reignite and relive past experiences in your mind and/or body. As you can imagine triggers cause people to isolate from relationships and opportunities.

​

• Flashbacks - Often the result of a trigger it is the revisiting of the past traumatic event in the present time. 

​

• Clumsiness – In response to these events in your life your mental and emotional self may be out of touch with the physical body making you a bit careless with your movements. It is common to have multiple bruises and scrapes or injuries because of this misalignment.

​

• Hypervigilance – This is a feeling of being on edge or hyper-aware. It is a protective strategy that makes it difficult to sit still. You may jump in response to a loud noise or feel a need to constantly survey a room, people, and objects as if you are waiting for something to happen.

​

• Nightmares/terrors – Night time can be especially difficult. Dreams are the working of the subconscious mind which house experiences that we do not readily remember or are not ready to face. You may have intrusive dreams of people who have hurt you, difficult images or scenes that mirror your experiences or in some way relate. It is also common to wake up in a pool of sweat, with a fast paced breath, or to vocalize with words or screams. Many experience what I call, “marathon dreams” that seem to go on and on even when you want them to stop.

​

• Emotionality – It is common to be overrun by emotions that seem disconnected from your current experience. You may find yourself in a pattern of override where sitting still is difficult as you feel a need to be on the go and constantly distracted from your internal world.

​

• Memory Difficulties – Memories of difficult experiences may be locked in your brain so deeply that you remember nothing (dissociative amnesia) or just pieces of the experience. It may be hard to even trust your memories. You may have difficulty with your short term memory as well and find yourself being forgetful often.

​

Please contact someone in your area or myself if you are ready to try something different. I do suggest EMDR, Somatic Experiencing®, and other embodied methods of support (see Approaches page).

​

References:

Levine, P.  (2010).  In an Unspoken Voice:  How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing for Trauma. New York, NY: Penguin Press.

​

​