Najah Musthafa Art Psychotherapist MAAT, ATR
A complex network of billions of neurons, our brains are constantly encoding, processing, and storing experiences, turning them into what makes us who we are – a multifaceted concoction of memories, sensations, and concepts interwoven into a body. How we integrate this information into our identity allows us to make sense of the world and ourselves both physically and mentally and thus, lets us continue to explore it in conscious ways. So, what happens when the whole system short circuits? This is what trauma is capable of doing. It does not only impact what is stored, but how, where and why it is stored ultimately changing how we experience the world both mentally and physically. We might start to make sense of things differently, we might not be able to trust or feel safe.
Emotional trauma is a multifarious phenomenon that can cause lasting effects that may prompt various psychological and physiological challenges when left untreated. While psychological disturbances may seem more predictable as an outcome of trauma, physiological ones might not be as obvious but nonetheless plays a major part in how trauma manifests and demands our attention. From coronary failure, stroke, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, diabetes, gut problems to various other diseases, trauma can hinder our health in substantial ways. Research has found that three or more traumatic events, especially during childhood increases your risk of health problems by a considerable amount throughout our life span when left unprocessed.
Researchers have tried to make sense of this in the hopes of clarifying why trauma has such dire impacts not just on our minds but also on our body. They have often questioned if the surge of cortisol, or norepinephrine, two common stress hormones are the main contributors to this but have found that this is only a small part of the big picture.
Stephen Porges, Ph.D., the creator of the polyvagal theory, suggests that our sensory system, which is the part of the nervous system that is able to process sensory information from touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing as well as movement (vestibular) and body awareness (proprioception) are able to assess and create safety and connection with and around others. But when danger is present, a red flag signals and the more primitive autonomic nervous system (ANS) turns on, which is comprised of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which controls our “fight or flight” response, and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which causes us to shut down and conserve energy otherwise known as the “freeze” response. These parts of our nervous system are also responsible for controlling our heart rate, salivation, stimulating digestion pupil dilation, and modulating many other important vital functions, including respiration and cardiac contractility.
Because the sensory information is stored as part of the trauma, when our sensory system reads similar information, whether it is a scent, a color, or a tone of voice, to the “red flag moment/s”, it may prematurely send a signal for the ANS to turn on. Therefore, trauma precariously has a direct line to how often these systems are on and off and has the potential to impact everything from breathing to sleeping. Even though these systems are designed to protect us, when consistently and impulsively triggered, it causes our nervous system to dysregulate and consequently impacts on our body’s protections and immune system. Hence, listening to and working with our body is a vital part of trauma treatment.
In conclusion, trauma is not just in our minds. It leaves a real, physical imprint on our body. When left untreated, it has the potential to debilitate the body’s protections until it shows up as disease. Trauma is also not linear. It shows up differently for each mind and body and various influences have a stake in how we integrate and process trauma and ultimately find resilience. This includes protective factors such as social systems, movement, access to professional help and holistic resources. Our hope with trauma is to re-pattern our nervous systems, build capacities for regulation, and create autonomic pathways of safety and connection. When we are able to safely reconnect with our world and ourselves, we create the potential to heal.
References: Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology). W. W. Norton & Company. Porges, S. W. (2017). The pocket guide to the polyvagal theory: The transformative power of feeling safe. W W Norton & Co.
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