How Trauma Can Affect Your Body

Although trauma-related problems can affect the body in a variety of ways, some are more common than others. Every individual is unique, and every individual’s trauma aftereffects are unique. But some commonalities exist for many people when it comes to how the body keeps score. Here are several prevalent physical hardships.

Common Trauma Coping Behavior

Alcohol and drugs are the most prevalent ways to numb the pain a person feels. Pain fades, and memory fades, when under the influence of drugs. The relief from pain produces pleasure, but there’s always a morning after for the night before. In addition to alcohol and drugs, people compulsively pursue food, sex, pornography, gambling, and work. Anything that allows them to travel outside of themselves for a while, to forget who they really are and how they feel.

Whatever numbing or pleasurable feeling is achieved is only temporary. So the behavior must be repeated over and over to provide even temporary relief. What begins as a means to provide pain relief soon becomes an addiction. With many addictive substances, the body begins to tolerate the drug, forcing a higher dosage to be used each time to achieve the same effect. This feeds the addiction further.

The compounding problem of so many physical addictions is that they begin as a direct response of the mind to combat an emotional trauma and end up involving the body as well. Now there is not only the emotional pain to work through, but also the physical addiction to recover from.

Bulimia, anorexia, and compulsive overeating often have their roots in trauma of some kind. They derive from an inappropriate desire and drive for control. The bulimic, the compulsive overeater are out of control. Like the bulimic, the compulsive overeater is a binge eater but without the subsequent purging. For the anorexic, the problem isn’t a lack of control, it is the obsessive use of control, specifically control over one’s consumption of food.

The link between eating disorders and trauma is remarkably sad. No one goes through childhood and adolescence thinking they’ll develop an eating disorder. Something has happened along the way to compel people to adopt such harmful behaviors. Messages may have been given to these individuals about their self-worth, looks, weight, and value to themselves and others. When our society’s distorted perception of beauty and fitness combines with someone’s unresolved trauma, it can easily lead to eating disorders.

How Trauma Presents Itself Physically

Chronic fatigue syndrome is another way trauma may present itself. The body becomes so worn down that it compromises the ability to repair and rejuvenate. When this happens, a person can feel exhausted and rundown all the time.

Some people who suffer from this condition feel its debilitating effects because of the unaddressed emotional distress caused by trauma. When the body wears down, it cannot fully achieve healing and becomes susceptible to health challenges.

One of the most debilitating responses to traumatic stress is a migraine headache. Silent stalkers attack unannounced and render a person incapable of tolerating stimuli of any kind. There is no way to work around this effect and it can knock someone flat on their back and keep them there. If someone has survived traumatic experiences and they endure migraines, it is well worth exploring the link and addressing traumatic stress to find relief.

Steps You Can Take to Help With Trauma

Woman contemplating trauma from her past

Kraken Images/Shutterstock

So what are some steps a person can take toward healing? Let’s discuss some specific action items.

1. Keep a “body log.” Often, we are not aware of how our body is reacting to certain situations simply because we aren’t paying attention. Keep a small notebook to record how your body feels throughout the day and week. Maybe it’s aggressive driving, or the mind races in the middle of the night preventing sleep.
2. Pinpoint ways the body has “kept score.” What are the specific physical aftereffects a painful past has caused? How does your body tell you that you’ve still got work to do to release traumatic stress? Do you experience headaches, insomnia, or agitation? There are signals your body is sending that it’s not well, and they may be linked to trauma.
3. Make appointments with your physician and counselor. It isn’t okay to live with chronic physical ailments of any kind. Sometimes we become so accustomed to our aches, pains, and struggles that they become background noise in our lives. They’re present, but we’re not consciously aware of them. Equipped with the information you’ve gathered from above, visit with your physician to begin addressing the issues. This will be most effective if you are also addressing the root causes of your trauma, with the help of a trained counselor.

Unresolved trauma has devastating results. But there is hope. There is no need to hide from brokenness any longer. The courage to explore past pain will lead to a new understanding of yourself and the events that caused the wounds. Time and time again, as I’ve worked with people struggling with the aftereffects of trauma, I have seen true healing.