How Your Body Remembers Trauma

Our bodies are exquisitely complex; there’s an artistry to our design. You might imagine yourself as a canvas that’s been painted on and painted over again and again. Each layer of paint is changed by the previous layer — the canvas itself holds the memories of all those paintings — even when they are buried deep. This is how your body remembers trauma, storing each experience and its effects deep within.

In that same fashion, our bodies remember trauma. It stays with us, changing how we interact and perceive the world. Today, we’ll explore the processes that cause our bodies to remember trauma.

Stress & Survival

When thinking about trauma, it’s important to understand it as the result of natural survival mechanisms. When we’re in stressful or dangerous situations, our bodies undergo tremendous physiological changes. You may experience a variety of symptoms while under stress, such as dizziness, changes in heart rate, cold sweats, and shallow breathing.

Other, more subtle changes take place as well. Our bodies produce stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline that heighten our senses, improve reaction times, and change the way we experience the world around us.

There are a few key things to understand about our fight-or-flight response:

  • Our fight-or-flight response is an innately human survival mechanism.
  • The response is subjective. What’s stressful to one person may not be stressful to another.
  • Repeated exposure to stress and trauma leaves a lasting impact on our bodies.

Think of our stress response as a machine being kicked into overdrive. Everything runs at peak efficiency for a time, but there’s sometimes a crash afterward. And more importantly, we train ourselves to live in that high-stress sweet spot, where all those stress hormones help us get work done.

Changes in the Brain

There are several key ways that trauma impacts the development and function of the brain. We can see lasting impacts from traumatic experiences on the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. These changes impact the way we store and recall memories and our sensitivity to danger. If you experience prolonged stress or severe trauma, you may end up ‘stuck’ in a state of hypervigilance — always looking for signs of danger.

Triggers

Traumatic memories are stored differently than normal memories, and as a result, we may have difficulty recalling them. Some people have intrusive flashbacks, whereas others remember little more than a fuzzy haze of the event.

These memories are stored in a fragmented fashion and can be triggered without us even realizing it. Our bodies remember pain — like burning our hands on a stove or falling down the stairs. Emotional trauma works the same way. Our senses can trigger those memories:

  • The way someone touches our shoulder.
  • The tone in their voice.
  • The way they smell.

It could be linked to a place, a song, or any number of things. When those memories are triggered, even unconsciously, our body senses danger and reacts accordingly.

Common Symptoms of Trauma in the Body

There’s a lot of wear and tear from having cortisol and other stress hormones pumping through our bodies on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, that wear and tear makes itself known in the form of health issues. A few of the more common symptoms include:

  • Hypertension
  • Weight gain/loss
  • Insomnia
  • Hormone imbalances
  • Muscle aches & pains
  • Weak immune function
  • Recurring migraines
  • Digestive issues
  • Chronic fatigue

Schedule Counseling

Often, it’s tempting to dismiss the traumas that we’ve experienced. Sometimes, it’s easier to pretend they didn’t happen; sometimes, we feel guilty for acknowledging our own pain. In the end, what each person experiences as trauma is unique, but the lasting impacts are the same. Trauma counseling can provide the support needed to address and heal these deep-seated wounds.

If you’re struggling to put those memories behind you, reach out to schedule a consultation today. Yes, you carry your trauma with you, but you’re a work in progress, not a finished piece. With the right support, you can integrate those memories and heal those old wounds.

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