Trauma - Why am I reacting like this?
One of the most common factors for survivors of trauma is the reality that a reminder of the traumatic event(s) has the power to completely take over your normal reactions and throw you into fight, flight, or freeze responses.
Why does this happen and is there anything I can do about it?
You may be wondering, ‘Do I even have trauma?’ If so, please check out my blog post, ‘Trauma; Is that what this is?’
Here’s what happens when a person has experienced a traumatic event. The traumatic memory is typically stored in the limbic system, the oldest part of the brain. The limbic system is responsible for our primitive fight, flight, or freeze responses. The memories get stored here because the original experience was traumatic, and so elicited our fight, flight, or freeze responses in order to protect us.
Over time, anything that reminds us of the original event can activate this fight, flight, or freeze response. A reminder might be a location, like a neighborhood, a park, or a house. A reminder might be a smell, something similar to what you might have smelled at the time of the event. Say you were in a car accident, the smell of burned tires might be a reminder for you. It could also be a specific time of year that you start to feel anxious. Maybe you lost someone in early fall one year; in following years, you might notice that you start to feel depressed, anxious, or upset during this same time each year.
When you encounter a reminder, it acts as an activator (or trigger) to your trauma, bringing your body immediately back into the fight, flight, or freeze response you adapted when the original event first happened. Once activated, your body goes immediately into these intense responses, no matter how ‘small’ the reminder is or was. I want to emphasize IMMEDIATELY because this response is in fact instantaneous.
What actually happens in the body during an activating event?
First, the body gets swarmed with a variety of stress hormones that flood the whole body in seconds. Your eyes dilate, hearing increases, your heart pumps blood faster, and muscles tighten. These reactions to your traumatic memories are getting you ready for a fight or a flight - or if you can’t do either, to freeze. Logical thinking is nonexistent now, regular functions like language skills and memory are ‘offline’ until the body can feel calm again.
This is a NORMAL, PREDICTABLE response that your body is having. Your body likely reacted this way during the original traumatic event in an effort to protect you in some way. You are still reacting that way today because your body is still trying to protect you from the trauma. The best thing you can do is be gentle with yourself and others who are reacting this way. Know that it is normal, and that there are ways to work through it.
Please consider seeking therapy to help. There are many different approaches to working with healing trauma. The two models that are currently recognized as best practices in the US for trauma include Trauma based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – CBT, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing - EMDR (Shapiro, 2018). A third approach that is widely used is called Somatic Experiencing, or working through the trauma somatically, using your physical body’s ability to heal itself.
Consider seeking a therapist near you who is licensed and trained and offers one of these widely recognized approaches to treating trauma and PTSD.
Remember, strong reactions to trauma and reminders of trauma are normal and predictable. You’re strong reactions are trying to keep you safe, even if they are no longer actually helping. Be kind to yourself and others.
“Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always. ”