While that’s great, one challenge is that it can be difficult to engage your logical mind when the body is dysregulated. It’s focused on our thoughts and engages the prefrontal cortex in the brain to resolve trauma,” says Uchendu. “Most talk therapy employs what we call ‘top-down’ processing. “We are really only focused on our survival and staying safe, which can make it difficult to be present and interact with the world in a meaningful way.” “ when our amygdala is activated, we have limited access to our frontal lobe - the part of our brain that is involved in executive functioning,” she says. It can be all but impossible to talk yourself out of it, as the part of your brain that handles rational thought and self-regulation is, essentially, offline. Even if we know logically that we are safe, our body is telling us otherwise,” she explains. “Basically, our brain is telling us, don’t relax - you need to be prepared for anything. This can increase the level of stress hormones in your body, like cortisol, leading to an underlying feeling of being “on edge” much of the time. When we have not fully processed an overwhelming experience, our amygdala - the part of our brain that activates the fight, flight, or freeze response - may become overactive, explains Leah Aguirre, a licensed clinical social worker and EMDR therapist in San Diego, California. “While in the Western world we might be inclined to first visit a physician with our physical ailments, it is worth considering getting trauma treatment from a therapist if your physical symptoms aren’t resolved,” she says. “If you have an experience that you keep reliving from the past or feel that you have the experience of being ‘triggered,’ that might be a sign that you have trauma that needs to be addressed,” says Blessing Uchendu, a body-centered psychotherapist based in NYC who uses EMDR and Somatic Experiencing to educate and treat clients with trauma. Trauma is one factor that can shrink your window of tolerance. This is known as your distress tolerance. Trauma can also exacerbate medical conditions like chronic pain and headaches.Įxperiencing trauma can shrink your window of tolerance, which is the sweet spot where you feel like you can handle stressful situations without them becoming too much. Many people continue to feel the effects of trauma - known as post-traumatic stress - for years after the traumatic event. This activates the body whenever a situation reminds the person of the traumatic event(s). Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones - instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala. Experts believe that trauma impacts your brain and body causing your nervous system to stay on “high alert,” always ready to face the next threat.

Signs emotional trauma