How Psychological Trauma Can Physically Affect Your Body

Trauma is a severe experience that has short and long-term consequences. An estimated 90 percent of the adult population in the United States have had a traumatic experience at some point in their lives. Besides, millions of people, especially ex-military officers, struggle with post-traumatic stress disorders long after leaving active military duties.

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This information and statistics demonstrate the extent of trauma and the need to understand it and seek therapy. Some people think that trauma is only associated with psychological consequences, but it can take a toll on the body and result in many physical effects. This article will discuss how psychological trauma can affect the physical body.

What Is Trauma?

Trauma refers to a distressing event that is beyond the ability of the person experiencing it to cope with it. The most complex aspect of trauma is that no two events or experiences are the same.

Trauma can range from combat in a war zone, sexual assault, abuse in childhood, natural disasters such as floods, violence, or any life-threatening experience. Regardless of the experience, trauma can make a person feel helpless and emotionally unstable.

However, this reputable mental health therapist Mckinney tx, can help patients understand trauma at a deeper level and undergo relevant therapy to minimize psychological and physical effects.

Another important aspect to remember is that trauma is subjective. So, a traumatic event for one person might be normal for another. So, an event that happens to two people could impact them differently.

Understanding the Initial Reaction to Trauma

As highlighted, people react to trauma differently, but there are shared reactions that are quite common. The common responses include exhaustion, disassociation, numbness, sadness, confusion, and agitation. These reactions are usually psychological but affect the body in many ways.

For instance, a person may not be able to eat after a traumatic event, which affects their immunity and exposes them to a higher risk of falling ill. Similarly, some people experience physical exhaustion because they are more stressed trying to process what happened and what to do about it.

Stress and worry are associated with muscle tension and constriction, so they affect a person’s ability to do physical activities. Muscle tension can make a person exhausted even without doing physical work and consume more calories in the short term.

Repeated trauma is associated with diverse initial physical and emotional reactions. So, a person who has experienced a trauma before might react differently from the way they did the first time. However, there is no right or wrong way to respond, but it is crucial to note those reactions since they could help a mental health therapist recommend the right treatment.

Physical Impact of Trauma

The human body has a stress response mechanism that triggers reactions to stressful and traumatic events. So, some people respond by running or fighting to escape the traumatic event. However, even if the event does not require escape, the physical effects of trauma might vary from headaches, sleep disturbances, stomachaches, and diarrhea.

Trauma might also increase the heart rate and sometimes the blood pressure, triggering related symptoms. So, how does the traumatic experience translate to a racing heart? The body releases adrenaline and other stress hormones that increase blood pressure and heart rate. Although this reaction is crucial for survival in situations that require fight or flight, releasing stress hormones regularly due to past traumas could affect the body negatively.

Generally, excessive stress weakens the immune system and reduces the ability to concentrate on daily chores or reduce productivity at the workplace. Muscle tension and high blood pressure might cause pain, which affects the ability to work or walk. If the body reacts to past traumas, the affected person might experience chronic pain and discomfort, which reduces their quality of life.

Stress hormones and reactions to trauma can affect the digestive system. That is why some people experience indigestion or a faster rate of digestion and increased metabolism. Continuous reactions to past traumas could lead to irritable bowel syndrome and malnutrition, which leads to other health complications.

Insomnia is a common symptom in people who have experienced traumatic experiences. They use every minute to remember and process the traumatic event. So, they have irregular sleep and rarely go back to sleep when they wake up in the middle of the night.

Some people experience nightmares associated with the traumatic event and wake up frightened. Since the body requires enough sleep to relax and rejuvenate, people with insomnia have low energy levels and may not live productive lives.

Cognitive functions are crucial even for people doing manual tasks. Since trauma might lead to chronic stress, the person affected might be unable to concentrate on work or studies. Their memory and ability to make decisions might also be affected, leading to loss of jobs and poor performance at school.

Lastly, some people gain excessive weight or lose weight fast due to trauma. This is because stress hormones affect appetite and metabolism. Since trauma symptoms are misdiagnosed or go unnoticed, friends and family members should pay attention to changes that affect their loved ones after trauma for effective management or treatment.

Emotional Impact of Trauma and How It Physically Affects the Body

When a person undergoes a traumatic event, their mind and emotions are overwhelmed. This triggers fear, confusion, sadness, and anger. These emotions interfere with one’s ability to work or engage in a meaningful relationship. Fear might also make some people avoid going out with friends or reporting to work or school.

If the traumatic event was a road accident, the affected person might be unable to drive or develop a sense of impending doom even when the situation is safe. So, emotions affect the physical ability to drive or control machinery following a traumatic incident.

In the case of trauma associated with abuse, one might also struggle to trust others or form close friendships or connections. As a result, they might feel emotionally disconnected from the world around them, which leads to physical isolation and loneliness.

Trauma can affect anyone and cause psychological and emotional effects that affect the physical body. Understanding how the body reacts to traumatic events can help manage the situation. However, it is crucial to visit a mental health professional for treatment after a traumatic event.