When Trauma Won’t Go: How Trauma Remains in Your Body

Your body is a storyteller. The way it moves reacts and recovers tells a tale. And when the plot twists traumatically? Well, then the shocking memories, emotional pain, and bodily discomfort are inextricably tied. 

Simply put, trauma can remain with us physically when we have a tough time releasing the experience and moving on. The body “remembers” the disturbing events in its own way. Your nervous system can hold the sensations and reactivity long after the danger passes.

Are you feeling stuck in the past? Is your body trying to tell you something? You aren’t alone. Let’s consider what might be happening.

How Does the Body Experience Trauma Optimally?

During the initial trauma, your body reacts naturally. You prepare by slipping into one of three perfectly normal responses: fight, flight, or freeze.

In fight or flight mode, your heart rate is elevated, your muscles tense, and your digestion slows. Thus, you are ready to battle or escape.

In a freeze state, you detach mentally and emotionally. Decision-making abilities of your brain decline and you feel imobilized.

Ideally, a traumatic event is managed one of these ways, in a short-term manner. The danger dissipates and slowly you release the anxiety accompanying the event. It generally takes no longer than a month for the memory to become a neutral, integrated experience. Then life goes on.

Unfortunately, it’s possible to get stuck in the fight, flight, or freeze response. As a result, your body can remain in a state of distress that resembles your initial stress response.

How Does the Body “Remember” or Hold Trauma?

Trauma is impactful because, in effect, it rewires the brain. If you have no way to release the stress response, physical changes and a ripple effect of symptoms can occur.

Do you recognize these common signs of stuck trauma? They may indicate that your distressing experience and your physical discomfort are linked:

• frequent or constant muscle tension, tremors, shakiness
• shortness of breath, elevated pulse, or lightheadness
• ongoing back, head, or stomach aches
•  jumpiness, restlessness, tendency to pace or fidget
• chronic pain or a suppressed immune system
• fatigue,  disrupted sleep, insomnia

Regardless of whether the threat is real or imagined, your anxiety, anger, or upset shows up in your body. Moreover, living with unresolved trauma can keep you in a state of consciously and/or unconsciously preparing for trauma to recur. Thus, your body may be in a continual cycle of reactivity that worsens over time.

Research indicates that trauma survivors suffer more illness, disease, and injury during their lifetimes. Support and therapy are key parts of alleviating physical reactivity as well as emotional pain.

How Can You Help Your Body Let Go?

Optimally, we want our bodies to align with our minds, expressing our ups and downs as they happen. We hope to laugh, cry, shake off tough times, and keep moving forward. We want to live harmoniously in synch, processing the past and present, letting go of whatever emotions and memories don’t serve us well.

Seeking help to soothe and balance out your sympathetic (high alert state) and parasympathetic (rested state) nervous systems is vital. Learning to cope and recover with the help of a therapist can be a productive way to fully process or reprocess difficult memories and sensations. Seek the support and guidance of a skilled and compassionate professional.

Reach Out For Help

A therapist can help you to take control of your body, emotions and your future. Your mind-body connection is natural and worth restoring. Trauma therapy with a compassionate, experienced professional is a valuable next step.

Please reach out, we’re ready when you are. We have the experience to support trauma sufferers. Please read more about PTSD therapy and contact us for support soon. You can feel better and live well.