The Body’s Physical Absorption Of Trauma

By now, chances are you have experienced the phenomenon of a flight or fight response. Our brains send survival signals to our bodies in moments of fear and danger, which is a primal instinct. Interestingly, trauma-related response to perceived fear or threat is not necessarily the same primal instinct as is flight or flight.

While we hear about the fight or flight response a lot, how our bodies absorb trauma is a lesser-talked about reality.  

Our Bodies Reaction To Trauma

Most of us are aware that our brains are responsible for storing our memories, but not all of us know that our bodies also hold tight to those experiences. When it comes to experiencing a traumatic occurrence that our minds perceive as too painful or too stressful to cope with, our bodies go into defense mode as a way to seek safety. 

This happens as our brain’s ability to process the trauma shuts down, leaving our nervous system overwhelmed. Unable to encode the trauma properly due to its experience, our brains fail to process it successfully. In certain traumatic situations where this happens, sensory fragments can trip up the survivor’s fight, flight, or freeze responses throughout their lives. If our bodies have absorbed trauma in this way, even the most minor of situations can cause our nervous systems to run amock. 

Our Bodies Remember Trauma

We all experience traumatic events at some point in our lives. While we may move through some of these experiences without residue, others continue to cause reactions long after the trauma is ended. Some of us may have difficulty remembering the specific details of traumatic events, while others recall their entire experience. 

The same can be true for finding yourself reacting to particular situations or people much more rashly than you can explain, whereas the brain may have blocked bad memories as a defense mechanism. What is crucial to note is that our bodies remember. 

Processing Unprocessed Trauma

Just because trauma goes unprocessed by the brain doesn’t mean it has no place to go. Our brains may disconnect temporarily from a traumatic situation, but our mental health is negatively affected by lingering issues that threaten our mental and physical health over time. 

Trauma survivors experience a perpetual cycle of heightened fear and adrenaline, which weaken the immune system, leading to potential health issues. Finding paths to healing both the mind and the body after trauma is vital to recovery. If you have been storing trauma in your body, finding ways of releasing it will help you retrain your brain to process the trauma differently. 

Our brains and our bodies are capable of learning new ways of coping with trauma. 

Therapists who specialize in trauma recovery and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can guide you to a healthier mental and physical state of being.