Trauma

Lets do it, lets dive into one of the most avoided topics in Mental Health. I’ve spent a lot of 2020 thinking about trauma because we are all living through multiple traumatic events this year. So lets break it down.

A traumatic event is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea.”

I have a more broad definition - trauma is anything we deem traumatic. I remember when I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7 years old, and a boy had chased me on the playground. I told my teacher at the time and she laughed and said “he probably just likes you.”

For me the event was terrifying. I can still remember exactly how I felt. For her, it was funny. However, her finding humor it in doesn’t take away from my feelings about it. We can’t compare and judge trauma, we can only hold it and heal it.

Here is the most important thing about trauma- don’t worry, I’ll say it a few times in this post - THE TRAUMA RESPONSE IS A NORMAL HUMAN RESPONSE TO ABNORMAL EVENTS.

Our bodies are really cool. They have tons of built in ways to protect us. One of those ways is our stress response - our emergency reaction system.

Here is how it works: the body interprets something as dangerous. Let’s use the example of a bear chasing us, because I don’t think anyone can argue that as not dangerous. So our body uses our eyes and ears to interpret this stimuli, a bear, running at us.

Our eyes and ears send a message to our brain, specifically the amygdala. The amygdala is, in part, responsible for emotional processing. From here, the amygdala interprets danger and send the message to the hypothalamus (another part of the brain). The hypothalamus, in my option, is like the boss of the brain. It sends a distress signal out to the entire body via our autonomic system (things like heart rate, breathing, gastro functions, etc). After this, the autonomic system signals our sympathetic system to kick into gear, pumping hormones throughout our body. After this, it’s up the the hormones to keep us safe. Specifically epinephrine, more commonly known as adrenaline. Epinephrine is responsible for releasing glucose into the body. It PUMPS energy all over.

Obtained via: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response

When this happens, we experience increase heart rate, blood flow, vision, hearing, smell, and the infamous fight or flight response - or better known in the psychology world as FFFF

1. Fight - Often aggressive and violent.

2. Flight - Run away! This is often literal but can also look like never having long term relationships, avoiding commitment, etc.

3. Freeze - I’ve actually seen people fall to the floor, frozen. But often this response is more subtle. Its often not leaving a bad job, being silent during an argument, etc.

4. Fawn - The fawn response is when we immediately try to please what is dangerous, become it’s best friend, so as to remove ourselves from danger.

Back to the bear - our body does its thing and we decide to FFFF the situation. Everyone is different; nor response is wrong; many of us are able to use different responses for different dangers. THIS IS A NORMAL HUMAN RESPONSE TO AN ABNORMAL EVENT (see? I told you I’d say it more than once).

But here is the thing about trauma - when we are in the middle of it, the executive functioning in our brain shuts down. We literally CANNOT think things through. We react instead of respond. We survive danger.

So our stress response is healthy, its a survival skill. But what if the trauma is more long term than a bear chasing us? What if it is an environment we never feel safe in?

Long term effects of ongoing trauma can include:

• High blood pressure

• Anxiety and depression

• Sleep issues

• Gastrointestinal issues (IBS is common in people with CPTSD)

• Irritability and anger outbursts

• Hypervigilance (our sense always being over aware)

• Using chemicals and other unhealthy behaviors to numb

• Risky behaviors

• Suicidal ideation

• Inability to experience a full range of emotions

• Difficulty with concentration

Normal human response, on overdrive, not so healthy anymore. Thanks body.

I am no stranger to trauma, to PTSD, and to an overactive, unhealthy stress response. I spent years working with my own therapist on how to reconnect with my body, properly interpret danger, and manage my stress response. It hurts, its painful, but it heals. PTSD is one of the most healable mental health disorders out there. Because again, NORMAL HUMAN RESPONSE TO ABNORMAL EVENTS.

And boy oh boy has 2020 been a year full of abnormal events. So what can we do? How do we care for ourselves?

Because this is a physiological response, we can actually trick the body to thinking we are safe. Here are a few ways to do this:

1. Take 5 minutes a day to focus on your breathing. Do it before bed. In for 4 through the nose, out for 6 through the month. Repeat for 5 minutes.

2. Eat healthy and often. Your body needs fuel. A healthy gastro system is going to produce serotonin (another hormone that combats epinephrine).

3. Get sleep!!! Make it a priority. One thing I also tell people to do is use your bed only for sleep: no phones, no TV, no food. Train your body that bed means sleep.

4. Exercise. This does not need to be a 3 mile run or a 1 hour workout. Exercise can be as simple as mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, playing with the kids for a bit. In a pinch, do 5 jumping jacks. Just move your body. Release the energy caused by the stress response.

5. Hug someone you love. For real. Hugs release oxytocin (another combatant to epinephrine) if you hug for 20 seconds or more!

Now, we can also approach this by giving our brain a break - literally removing the danger.

1. Avoid social media, distressing conversations, and unhealthy people.

2. Practice gratitude - each day name 5 things you have in your life that are safe and healthy.

3. Self care - fill your cup. Do something JUST for you that will make you feel GOOD.

4. Consider something productive you can do that day and get it done. Focus on what you are in control of.

5. Stay connected. Find people you can trust and name your emotions with them.

We are in this together, experiencing collective trauma, on a worldwide level. You are not alone, you are not crazy. You are experiencing a normal human response, to abnormal events. Try out some of the above tools to help with the discomfort of the abnormal events and a “stuck on” stress response.

Stay connected,

Angie