Trauma Part 2
Trauma pt 2: Now you know how the brain reacts, here are some other reactions you find yourself feeling: Struggling with sleep, having frequent nightmares (as an adult), being overly resistant to change or overly rigid. Getting startled easily, feeling irritable. Being acutely aware when going new places or meeting new people. Lastly, having flashbacks, when being reminded of your traumatic experience, your body feels like its real & its happening all over again.
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There’s a sound theory that the type of trauma we experience affects what our brain is looking for as a threat. For ex, if you were raised in an abusive home where you were physically punished for innocent mistakes, you may find yourself preoccupied with never letting your boss down or never making a mistake. Which in turn may make it hard for you to concentrate at work, or relax on or off the job. If your trauma stems more from relationships, you may find yourself struggling to trust others, or even struggling to commit. If your trauma is related to being humiliated by your 3rd grade teacher, you may find yourself overly worried and nervous regarding public presentations.
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This is my professional theory around where freeze comes in. So the trauma field first said there were two reactions to threats: flight or fight. Then freeze started to come into the vocab. I often find a freeze response is learned at a young age when it was not safe to run away or fight. Most of my clients who have freeze responses grew up in an abusive or neglectful home where as young children, if they fought back toward the adult who was being abusive, or if they ran away from the punishment, they would receive worse consequences. Now I’m not saying that it’s everyone’s experience, but is a pattern I’ve noticed.
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TAKE HOME: If any of the above symptoms resonate with you- try starting to notice these feelings. Begin to notice your body’s reaction & begin to trace back your flashbacks/memories to events in your life. You can do this mentally, by sharing them with a trusted person or by journaling about them. Awareness is a good first step. THEN seek help or guidance from a licensed professional such as a therapist, or mental health counselor.
***Originally Posted June 21st 2018 on LVLHolistic’s Instagram page as a collaborative presentation regarding mental health and nutrition***