How Trauma Affects The Brain
Updated: Oct 21
While going through a difficult experience, things can be really tough. But, when the experience is finally over, then it’s over, and one can then breathe a sigh of relief.
Sometimes, though, when an individual has gone through a hard time, even though it is over, the impact continues and remains in the body.
Reminders of a traumatic event can bring distressing thoughts, emotions or physical reactions. Some people experience intrusive memories or flashbacks that feel as though an event is happening again; others respond differently. Not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD.
The impact of the event may cause the individual to remain with a negative perception about themselves, others and the world in which they live. It is not the event that affects the individual, but rather the impact it had on the individual’s mind and body that causes an imprint of negative perception.
An event may be traumatic, but the impact is what we refer to as “trauma.”
As such, trauma is a subjective experience. What causes one individual to become upset, overwhelmed and confused may have no such impact on another individual.
The effect trauma has on the mind and body differ dramatically, and are influenced by many different factors. Nurture and nature play crucial roles in the reactivity and responses to survival instincts after traumatic experiences.
Nurture’s influence on the mind and body is greatly impacted by “who was there for you at the time?” and when feeling helpless, “Was a foundation of safety established?”
The mind and body have responses that help a person react to perceived danger, including fight, flight or freezing. Under intense stress, attention, planning and emotional regulation can become more difficult. Describing the thinking brain as going offline is a metaphor, rather than a literal account of all brain activity or an explanation of every person's response to trauma.
“So, who was there for you at the time?” is the question.
Supportive relationships and a sense of safety can be important in recovery. Some therapeutic approaches use imagery or compassionate perspectives when working with distressing memories. These exercises are therapeutic techniques, not a way to establish or change the historical facts of an event, and they are not part of every effective trauma treatment. A clinician should explain the specific approach, its evidence and how it fits your needs.
Further reading
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Contact The Clarity Clinic to ask about in-person appointments in Bingham Farms or telehealth for clients located in Michigan.
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