The Impact of Trauma on the Mind and Body: Exploring the Connection

Everything I know about mental health cannot possibly be understood without understanding trauma - it is truly at the core of everything. And all of the dots pertaining to what I always felt, read and practised, joined together to make complete sense of everything.

A few weeks ago, I happened to come across an interview of Gabor Maté, conducted by Mel Robbins on her eponymously named podcast. Gabor Maté speaks about the impact of trauma on the body and stresses that most illnesses and conditions that are believed to be genetic are, in fact, caused by untreated trauma. He goes on to state that individuals who have have experienced acute trauma in childhood have a higher rate of inflammatory particles in their blood stream than those who have not experienced such adverse trauma so, as a result, they are more likely to experience mental illness as well as physical disease. Additionally, those who experience trauma also secrete more cortisone and adrenaline which is also a huge contributing factor to illness, especially autoimmune diseases.

So, displacement, loss, abuse, neglect, violation...all of these experiences create trauma, which is why therapy is so important for anyone who has experienced any of the above. Even those of us who may have experienced a difficult birth are more likely to go on to experience the effects of trauma throughout our lives. Often, we are fully aware of the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) and are able to make the link with any issues we may be facing as an adult; sometimes we are able to acknowledge that we experienced something severe but have not made the link between that and its manifestations later on. This is where therapy is crucial. But often, we have no idea that it is trauma that we are experiencing and we do not link a past experience to a present symptom and this is particularly the case for physiological effects. Worse, we might not even consider that we may well be experiencing trauma. Those of us practitioners who work with trauma are aware though, that often, those recurring headaches, episodes of asthma, heart conditions and auto-immune conditions, can often be trauma manifesting itself as a physical symptom or disease.

Trauma increases the actions of the amygdala, releasing the cortisol and adrenaline stress hormones into the body, causing it to become hyperactive. But these are not harmful chemicals - they are actually there to protect us from harm; they provide us with that fight, flight or freeze instinct that protected humans from primal threats. The issue here is that, with stress, we are releasing these chemicals when there is no wild animal heading towards us because, if there was, these hormones would be released once the threat has gone. But, in modern day society, the wild animal does not exist in that tangible form - we cannot run from it; we cannot overcome it, but we try, sometimes attempting both, then we end up with anxiety from trying to run and anger issues from trying to fight. Modern society is an animal that cannot be dealt with in the same way as a real one. We will not survive this way. So what happens to all of that secretion? Well, it stays within us and manifests itself through illness - both physical and mental.

What is Trauma?

Interestingly, the term 'trauma' originates from the Greek word for 'wound' or 'injury'. Thus, trauma shows up as exactly that. And just like a physical wound, it is raw and open to harm if not dealt with appropriately, and, just like a physical wound, it can fester and become infected, spreading infection to other parts, until it is not the wound itself that is the issue, but the damage. That, for me, is what trauma is - the damage of a neglected wound and not necessarily the wound itself. It is almost similar to the source of a really bad argument, starting from something insignificant then exploding into festering anger. Trauma is like aftershock of the earthquake, still causing damage, sometimes even years after the mainshock has occurred. Maté's definition is, in fact, in complete alignment with mine in that he considers trauma as what happens after the event and not the event itself; it is about how the pain from the wound reveals itself and not the wound. Untreated wounds may well become infected and infections can be serious.

Polyvagal Theory

Polyvagal Theory advocates that our autonomic nervous system, particularly the vagus nerve - our longest cranial nerve which carries messages between our brain, heart and digestive system and a major branch of our parasympathetic system - regulates our responses to stress and trauma and seeks to explain how our sense of danger and safety can impact upon our bodies. Accordingly, depending upon our autonomic state, our bodies transform and different systems are activated. Understanding this, according to Polyvagal Theory, is crucial to understanding mental health issues and trauma, which has an impact on both the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems.

The first thing to be affected by trauma is the ventral sub-branch of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for social engagement. Social engagement and connection, according to Polyvagal theory, is vital - a crucial necessity to promoting safety. So, it is of no surprise that when we experience trauma, we may experience the inability to perform functions which we associate with social engagement and connection: we do not laugh, smile or interact and we feel disconnected. Left unchecked, the sympathetic nervous system is then affected, which means we fight or fly, but when this too fails, which it often does in our modern day society, the dorsal sub-branch of the parasympathetic nervous system is impacted, resulting in the freeze response, often showing up as mental fatigue or depression.

If we imagine, walking along a street and a person walks towards us, our first instinct might be to move out of the way. However, if this person were to walk into us, we might respond differently - we might say something under our breath or swear at them, neither of which are very sociable, thus we are becoming more distanced from connectivity. Hopefully, with no more individuals walking into us, we should be able to get on with our stroll and barely recount the incident. However, if, whilst we continue to walk, we are bumped into again and again, or worse, we come face to face with a whole crowd of people moving towards us, then we would likely become more enraged, agitated or afraid. We might fight our way through the crowd, fly through them or freeze as they pass. If we are lucky and have the correct resources, we may well recover from this incident, but if we do not, then we may well find our hearts racing when we next go for a walk, in panic, or we may find that whilst walking, we keep stopping as we freeze in order to prevent further distress. Often, what we do is a mixture of both.

The above example, though simple and really not doing enough justice to the Polyvagus theory, does, I hope, go some way to indicating how trauma shows up after the event - there is a physical response as the body remembers how it reacted to the initial incident and this reaction shows up again. And when this happens, the vagus nerve needs aligning in order to return to the safety of homeostasis: we need to be able to walk down that street again without experiencing the same symptoms. We need to return to safety.

Somatic Therapy

And, yes, of course I am always going to advocate therapy as the ultimate healing from trauma, but this does depend upon the severity of the trauma being presented. Talking therapy is definitely a step in the right direction - but, in my opinion, it is better when accompanied with other forms of therapy. I strongly believe that one of the most effective healing processes for trauma is somatic therapy, which, if defined in its most crude form, means relating to the body. This clearly makes sense because trauma is trapped within the body so, in order for it to be dealt with, the body needs to be involved in the therapy process, along with the mind. Somatic therapy involves the relationship between the mind and the body and a therapist conducting this therapy will focus on releasing the tension that impacts the body as a result of trauma. This is why I say that talking therapy works to a degree, but somatic therapy provides a far more holistic approach and can include movement, posture work, sound healing and breath work - pretty much anything that can impact our five main senses which all potentially hold trauma or trigger trauma in some way.

When we have a strong memory of anything, for the the nervous system, this memory is real and present, so if we have experienced an ACE this is particularly pertinent, as the event may have been re-lived so many times, hence the trauma manifesting itself in physiological form. And this is why trauma healing takes time - there is definitely no quick fix to this, a bit like when we attempt to reach our ideal weight - it is best achieved slowly, otherwise the weight or cravings soon reappear and we are back to where we started. Repair, particularly of the mind and body, is a gradual process and so it should be.

It would also be remiss of me not to mention that each of our traumas are different, so the form of our somatic healing will have to differ accordingly. Like most things, a gradual approach is preferable to that instant gratification quick fix that we far too often seek. A therapist trained in somatic work will be able to offer a safe environment for deeper breath work as we know how to make the neuroception of our clients sense safety by using appropriate interventions, such as EMDR, the Hakomi Method and Sensorimotor Therapy to return a client experiencing trauma to homeostasis.

Breath work is something we all can do without therapy. Slow, deep breathing, particularly breathing with longer exhalations, stimulates the vagus nerve and activates the all important parasympathetic nervous system, thereby shifting the the body from a state of stress to homeostasis. There is a wealth of information out there on breath work which, I think, is a good thing because it is imperative that we find which style works for us. Personally, I find that one particular method may work in one particular moment for a specific manifestation of trauma, but the same method might not be effective for something else. It is also important for us to know that not all breath work should be conducted without a professional and some individuals have experienced adverse affects with some types having not researched a method thoroughly enough - such is the power of the healing. However, methods such as square breathing, and alternate nostril breathing are a good place to start.

Final Thoughts

• First and foremost, consider if there are recurring patterns in your life with regards to ailments, negative thoughts and reactions to events or people, or even sensory triggers as these could be signs that you are experiencing trauma from a past event or events.

• If these manifestations are impacting on your life, then seek professional help, preferably from a trauma trained therapist, but any form of therapy, including counselling, is a definite step in the right direction.

• If therapy is not an option, at least share your feelings with someone you trust. Often thoughts and feelings are released from the self, even if temporarily, once it had been shared.

• Understand how the trauma may be showing up in your body and breath, - feel where it is and the, and only then, dance, sing, listen to sounds that heal you, walk, run or meditate - do whatever you feel it is safe to do to release the stress from your body, but only once you have acknowledged and located it.

• Breathe.

lisamasoncooper.com

I am Lisa Mason-Cooper, therapist and accredited life coach, whose services include hypnotherapy and counselling. I am passionate about all things relating to healing, mental health and wellbeing.

#trauma #polyvagaltheory #somatictherapy #mentalhealth #Gabormaté #Melrobbins #breathwork #EMDR