Our individual experiences with trauma will be different, whether it’s in terms of the event that caused the trauma, the amount of trauma we experience, and sometimes even the length of time it takes for the effects of trauma to manifest after the fact.
But regardless of these differences, all trauma can leave deep, often invisible scars on the brain. These affect our mental, emotional, and physical well-being, sometimes in ways that can seem unrelated. This is why gaining an understanding of how trauma impacts the brain is crucial for developing effective recovery strategies.
In this blog, we’ll look at the neurological effects of trauma and the ways in which these go on to impact our mental, emotional, and physical health by way of the symptoms trauma causes. Then, with this understanding in place, we’ll go on to look at the journey towards healing from trauma.
What Happens to the Brain During Trauma?
During a traumatic event, our brain’s amygdala triggers our fight-or-flight response. The response is commonly referred to using only these two responses, but there are others that can be triggered including the ‘fawn’ and ‘freeze’ responses. The amygdala also triggers the release of stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis becomes activated, increasing our heart rate, blood pressure, and energy supplies.
Basically, we can go from feeling fairly calm and centred to suddenly being a place of high alarm, anxious, and reactive. In the natural world, this would be a prey animal’s response to being stalked and hunted by a predator–the ‘flight’ response gives prey animals incredible bursts of energy to allow them to run in great bursts of speed to evade capture. Some animals may have their ‘freeze’ response triggered, taking shelter in long grass and essentially shutting-down to avoid detection. The immediate response is much the same in humans.
However, due to the complexity of the human brain, as well as our societal structures and expectations (which prey animals do not have), the lasting effect that trauma can have on our brain structures can be quite different. When an animal experiences a stressful event, they are usually able to release the stress and go on with their life. Humans do not always have this ability, whether we are living in an environment that is conducive to long term stress, or our career is highly pressured, or we have external pressures put upon us, the stress does not always go away.
Prolonged stress can actually shrink a part of our brain called the hippocampus. This impacts our memory structures and our ability to both recall old memories and form new ones, which is implicated in a lot of brain deterioration. Such an impact is a big reason to work towards reclaiming our lives from trauma, so that the very fabric of our lives, and our precious memories, no longer deteriorate over time through living with chronic stress and unresolved trauma.
Another part of the brain that can go into decline due to chronic stress is the prefrontal cortex. This is our ‘higher’ mind–the thinking and decision-making centre. We need this in order to navigate the world effectively, to make wise decisions, and temper impulsive actions that may be self-destructive for us. With this area in decline, we are more likely to remain in the brain chemistry that chronic stress can cause, and to go into shut-down mode to try and stay safe–even though it keeps us stuck in a numbed out, disassociated place.
Where the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex begin to decline, one area of our brain that goes into overdrive because of chronic stress is our amygdala. This area sees heightened activity, and our amygdala is our brain’s fear center. So an increase in activity here will make us more sensitive to potential threats. This alongside the decline in our prefrontal cortex will reinforce the idea that the best way to protect ourselves from ongoing or future threats is to remain as we are. To do nothing that might provoke change, even healthy change, because change will be seen as a potential threat.
Short-term and Long-term Effects of Trauma
What happens to our brains during trauma can have short-term and long-term effects on us. Initially we will likely express shock or denial at both the events that have caused the trauma, and at the emotions that may begin to arise because of this. Denial in particular can come from a part of us that is trying to protect ourselves against the overwhelming emotions that can begin to surface. Our brain cannot cope with continued emotional flooding in the aftermath of trauma, and so we may deny what we are feeling, instead pushing our emotions down in order to cope with what’s happening.
By doing this, we are actually being pushed away from our true nature. We are largely conditioned to suppress extreme or prolonged emotional responses because of societal expectations that we return to “normal” and carry on with life. Yet what would be best for handling trauma and acute forms of stress in our lives would be to freely express and feel these emotions in the aftermath of trauma. To be our authentic selves without having to push anything down, and to have the support around us to do this. Unfortunately, there are many structures formed within our mind that can prevent us from fully allowing trauma to move through us.
Acute stress symptoms are also caused by changes to our brain structure–especially the heightened activity in our amygdala, which can cause anxiety, hypervigilance, and intrusive thoughts. These are all common in the aftermath of trauma as we shift into a state of high alert to avoid any more harm. Hypervigilance in particular may be familiar to those of us who have lived in households where our relationships may have been the cause of trauma. Hypervigilance can lead to hyperarousal, where we become easily startled, and constantly feel on-edge as we remain in this state of constantly expecting threat. This can lead to trouble sleeping, as our mind has difficulty switching off from this threat detection.
The longer-term consequences of trauma can stem from the more immediate, short-term symptoms. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) can both cause persistent symptoms including, but not limited to, flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety. The development of these disorders can impact daily life, from our mental and physical health, to our relationships. We can become emotionally dysregulated, experiencing mood swings that can shift without warning from irritability and anger, to sadness or numbness.
The long term impact on our hippocampus can lead to more memory issues where we have difficulty remembering details of the traumatic event/s, as well as more difficulty recalling old memories and creating new ones as our brain cannot create new pathways. We may also struggle to focus, unable to concentrate, and experience what is often referred to as brain-fog.
And, as many of you who have turned to Primal TrustTM will recognize, a long-term consequence of trauma can be physical health issues. Chronic stress and trauma can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and also lead to chronic illnesses such as CFS, M.E., Fibromyalgia, and many more. These physical issues are caused by both the downstream impact that the stress chemistry our brain produces can have on our body, as well as many of the effects of trauma including hyperarousal, which can cause sleep disturbances.
The traumas we experience, and the ongoing impact they have on our lives, can be destabilising and debilitating. The effects outlined here are not the full extent of what a person can experience in the aftermath of trauma. Researchers, health practitioners, therapists, and many others continue to look into the impact trauma can have on an individual, in order to better understand how that person can heal from trauma. Because it is possible – many people have used programs like Primal TrustTM to heal from the symptoms caused by trauma, and then using trauma-informed practices, have been able to heal the trauma itself.
Healing the Brain from Trauma
There are many different approaches that can help heal the brain, and body, from trauma. Many of these are practices you can work on yourself with some instruction through a program like Primal TrustTM, but PLEASE NOTE if you have experienced a lot of trauma, it is safer to start some of these practices 1 to 1 with a trauma-informed and somatics-experienced practitioner.
Although trauma can leave deep, often invisible, scars on the brain, it is held in our bodies. It gets stuck there when we can’t defend ourselves in, or run from, a traumatic situation. Our fight or flight response is triggered, but not resolved. However, with somatic practices we can actually discharge this stuck trauma from our body and our nervous system. This contributes to nervous system regulation, symptom relief, and the release of stored emotions.
Sometimes, when we start getting in touch with our body during these practices, these stored, often unconscious, emotions can bubble up to the surface. Grief, shame, and anger can flood you, so it’s important to use any tools you have to rewire your response to these emotions and allow them to move through you. Somatic Experiencing can help with this, as it allows us to connect to implicit memories–stored memories and emotions below our conscious perception.
There are also many gentle, simple practices such as breathwork and aromatherapy. At Primal TrustTM we recently did a guest class with Jodi Cohen, an aromatherapist who has also trained in nutritional therapy. She has helped over 100,000 clients heal from brain related challenges, including trauma, with the help of essential oils. You can find out more about her and what she can do to help here.
There are also more involved practices, such as TRE (Trauma Releasing Exercises) and Qigong. We recommend undertaking these with experienced practitioners, which can be found on sites such as https://traumaprevention.com/tre-provider-list/ . Things like Block Therapy Trauma Release with Block Therapy or Human Garage, who focus on trauma release through fascial manoeuvres, can also be incredibly helpful.
Primal TrustTM also has Somatic Awareness and Movement as one of our Level 1 modules, where we take you through various somatic practices to release stress and tension.
EDMR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is another practice that can be done walking in nature. In fact, the practice was first discovered in this manner! EDMR when used by practitioners utilizes guided eye movements, alongside bilateral stimulation, to process and integrate traumatic memories. But you can do this while walking in nature, as our eyes are scanning the environment in a healthy way, with the walking as bilateral movement and stimulation.
At Level 2 of Primal TrustTM, when we get into The Mentorship program, we use trauma-informed healing practices to help you begin unlocking deeper self-healing in order to address and repattern trauma. We use a combination of inquiry, neuroplasticity, and somatic practices to resolve and repattern your trauma responses. In doing so, you can gain a deeper understanding of your trauma and the wounds caused by this, so that in repatterning the responses you gain a deeper understanding of yourself, too.
At Primal TrustTM, we can attest to the transformative power of understanding trauma and addressing its effects on the brain. This can often be the first step towards healing. In our Level 1 program, Regulate™, we give you the tools you need to begin to release trauma from the body, and to allow your brain to rewire–bringing the hippocampus back into play and beginning to calm the overactive amygdala. Then, during our Level 2 program The Mentorship, we begin to work on trauma processing and parts work to allow you to resolve the deep wounding driving your trauma responses. A big part of this is repatterning your trauma responses.
Many practitioners and programs will talk in a way that sounds as if you can get rid of trauma, and this is pretty different to what we do at Primal TrustTM. When we talk about healing your trauma, we’re not talking about removing it or getting rid of it–we heal through transformation–through doing the deep inner-work, through developing self-compassion and self-understanding. This helps you to go beyond healing the wounds that trauma can cause us, transforming them into wisdom. With this wisdom, we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, with our wounds not only healed, but integrated in a healthy, beneficial way that allows us to move forward with our lives on our own terms.
Resources:
- https://blocktherapy.com/2022/04/trauma-release-with-block-therapy/
- Jodi Cohen’s Aromatherapy – Vibrant Blue Oils: https://dv216.isrefer.com/go/VBO/PrimalTrust/
- The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge
- Stress Effects on Neuronal Structure: Hippocampus, Amygdala, and Prefrontal Cortex https://www.nature.com/articles/npp2015171
- Trauma release through fascial manoeuvres https://humangarage.net/
