How Past Trauma Can Live in The Body
Updated: Oct 20
Trauma and our nervous system
Your nervous system helps coordinate responses to stress and danger, including changes in alertness, breathing and heart rate. These responses involve several interacting systems. Describing them only as “fight or flight” and “rest and digest” can be a useful introduction, but it is not a complete explanation of an individual experience.
Distress can be felt physically as well as emotionally.
Some people notice tension, a racing heart or a strong physical reaction to a reminder of something frightening. Bodily sensations are not proof of a particular past event. Body-oriented approaches attend to present experiences such as sensation, movement and grounding. They do not establish that a memory is accurate or that talking therapies are insufficient.
What exactly is considered a traumatic experience?
People use the word trauma in different ways. Difficult experiences can have a lasting impact, but not every distressing event leads to PTSD. Assessment considers the event, the symptoms and their impact rather than applying a diagnosis from a checklist.
Effects of trauma
After a frightening experience, you may feel more alert to danger, find reminders distressing or have difficulty sleeping. Responses vary. For some people these difficulties settle; for others they persist and professional assessment can help identify appropriate support.
How does it happen?
Responses to stress are complex and can change across situations. Terms such as fight, flight, freeze and fawn describe patterns people may recognise; they are not diagnoses or a complete account of the nervous system. Feeling on alert does not establish that energy is literally trapped in the body.
Living in the survival mode
Poor sleep, difficulty concentrating, tension or feeling disconnected can be distressing. These experiences can have several possible causes. New or persistent physical symptoms deserve medical attention rather than being automatically attributed to trauma.
You may have tried several ways to feel better and still find yourself struggling. That does not mean that your body is sabotaging you or that your previous efforts were wasted. We can consider what you are experiencing now and what support may fit.
To summarise
Difficult experiences can influence how you feel and respond in the present.
Understanding a pattern intellectually does not always change how it feels. Therapy can make room for thoughts, emotions, relationships and bodily experiences without assuming that one of these explains everything.
It can be useful to explore what keeps distress going now, with care for your current circumstances and needs. A metaphor such as “trapped energy” should not be presented as an established biological mechanism.
A considered approach takes account of your experience, preferences and the evidence for the difficulties you want help with. We discuss what my practice offers and whether another service would be more appropriate.
Grounding or breathing practices may feel helpful to some people. They are options to consider, rather than a way to guarantee regulation. You can pause a practice that feels uncomfortable and discuss it with a qualified professional.
Read more about practical steps you can take to regulate your nervous system and bring joy and peace back to your life in my article "How to regulate an overactive nervous system".
If you think you may have PTSD, speak to your GP or an appropriate mental health service about assessment. Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR are among the treatment options described by the NHS.
I offer relational, trauma-informed psychotherapy in Leeds and online. A Clarity Call gives us room to discuss your needs and whether this service fits. I do not advertise EMDR or a structured trauma-focused CBT programme.
Dorota,
I really enjoyed reading your work. It is weird feeling but I actually visualised trauma. I imagined a big accumulation of energy with the colour so bright that I wasn't able to catch with my eyes. This would be useful for me as it might help with allocation of stress tension and reliving it. many years I I lived with no knowledge how important is self love, self trust and knowing yourself. I must admit that I am still in a healing process but every so oftet I am realising that I made a progress of being better version of myself.
Thank you for the tips of how to regulate energy balance in nervous system.