Unlocking the Grip of Chronic Health Conditions from Hidden Trauma: Strategies for Relief
Chronic health conditions often have invisible roots deeply embedded in past emotional traumas. While we all know that traumatic events leave psychological scars, their impact on physical health can be profound and wide-reaching. This blog explores the deep connection between unresolved emotional traumas and chronic health issues, underlining the importance of addressing these hidden wounds.
Emotional Trauma and Health: The Hidden Costs of Survival Responses
Unresolved emotional trauma of the past often casts an ominous shadow over one’s health and well-being, relationships and sense of security. Just as painful memories are stored in our brains, emotional trauma becomes trapped in the body. The way the trauma is perceived and how we respond to it as well as the age we endure it determines to a large extent the potential domino effect on our lives.
When facing danger or a threat, animals, including humans are wired evolutionarily to automatically and unconsciously react in particular ways to protect ourselves---the time-honored, Flight-Flight-Freeze response.
The main difference between wild animals and humans is that animals naturally recover relatively quickly from these states by shaking it off, that is by engaging in other actions and behaviors like yawning and trembling that releases the excess of energy caused by the threatening experience (1).
When Emotions Hurt: Our Autonomic Nervous System Under Siege
For better or worse, humans have learned to inhibit this adaptive behavior of dispersing this excess energy. Unfortunately, this undermines the natural and essential re-setting of our autonomic nervous system. The stored negative energy from the trauma leads to a dysregulation of our nervous system, leaving the emotions trapped inside our bodies like a pressure cooker. This occurs most frequently when at the time of the trauma, there was no way to defend oneself or escape the traumatic experience.
This chaos within our autonomic nervous system can cause us to be easily startled or frightened. It puts us always on guard for danger. We often have trouble sleeping and concentrating. We may find ourselves irritable and prone to angry outbursts.
Watch the video below from the Trauma Foundation to see the full story in action:
If You Do Not Cry, Another Part of Your Body Will
“If you are experiencing strange symptoms that no one seems to be able to explain, they could be arising from a traumatic reaction to a past event that you may not even remember.” Psychologist, Peter Levine, writes in his book, “Waking the Tiger.”
Emotional trauma can rear its ugly head years later as chronic health conditions such as headaches, digestive problems, chronic pain, insomnia, mood swings, chronic fatigue, weakened immunity, skin issues, hormonal imbalances, musculoskeletal conditions and asthma.
Healing Beyond the Surface: Insights from My Personal Discoveries
In my pediatric ophthalmology practice, we were trained to consider the possibility that when a young child came in with unexplained (feigned) vision loss (which was proven without a doubt by our methods of being smarter and tricking them into demonstrating normal vision) that there was a possibility of emotional trauma, bullying, or even sexual abuse. Well documented cases had been seen and reported in the literature. Sadly, this was not all that rare. Following the evaluation, a careful and sensitive conversation with the parent(s) in private was essential to help them understand and address their child’s emotional needs.
Yet, I was astounded when I learned about how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) lead to early onset chronic disease in adulthood. It answered many questions about the poor state of health of several people that I loved in my life.
Early on, when I encountered people with chronic, unexplained symptoms, even children, I often thought they could be harboring some deeper underlying emotions from past trauma. I was often hesitant to ask, thinking that I would be perceived as being dismissive or writing them off as if their symptoms were not real. Or maybe that I was being too intrusive or presumptuous. But I learned how important it is to ask the appropriate questions sensitively to uncover and heal these deep emotions with professional help.
Roots of Suffering: Delving into Childhood Trauma and Its Chronic Health Consequences
Researchers now study the effects of ACEs by means of a survey that includes questions designed to tap into a childhood history of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. It asks questions relating to substance abuse, mental illness, or incarceration of a household member; domestic violence, and parental separation.
Survey results highlight the link between the number of adverse childhood events and the development of mental health problems including depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies. Even more mind-blowing is the strong connection to chronic diseases such as heart and lung disease, cancer, diabetes, headaches, liver and autoimmune disease.
Higher ACE scores are also associated with premature mortality, increased utilization of health services, unemployment and poor academic and social well-being.
If The Body Feels Safe, The Mind Feels Safe
How do we help people live in bodies harboring trauma to feel fundamentally safe? Healing from trauma is very personal and no single therapy or strategy works for everyone.
Here are several strategies to heal from trauma without medication.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): CBT helps people acknowledge the trauma and become more aware that they need to heal the wounds inside. It identifies and challenges negative thought patterns and beliefs that contribute to emotional distress; It teaches coping strategies to manage symptoms.
Mindfulness/Meditation/Yoga/Tai chi: Reduces anxiety and depression inducing a state of peaceful relaxation; Helps people learn to manage their mind, reducing intrusive thoughts and memories. Meditative movements open your relationship with your body as you learn to breath calmly. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system allowing one to enter into a restful and healing state. These therapies emphasize awareness and presence in the moment.
Theater/Dance and Movement Therapy: Drama therapy helps people develop self-awareness, express and explore difficult emotions and process past experiences. By acting out emotions and scenarios, patients can confront feelings and experiences in a controlled and therapeutic environment which can lead to powerful moments of insights and healing. These therapies may be especially useful for people who find traditional talk therapy difficult.
Neurofeedback: This technique involves training patients to control brain activity through real-time displays of the brain’s electrical activity (EEG). It is used to enhance self-regulation which helps alleviate symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression. By learning to modify their brain patterns, individuals can achieve better emotional and physiological regulation.
Somatic Experiencing (SE): This therapy treats the body as the starting point for healing. Developed by Dr. Peter Levine on the premise that trauma resides in the body causing an overwhelmed dysfunctional nervous system. It is body-mind therapy specifically focused on healing trauma through internal awareness, special orientation and calming movements of the body. Learn more with the link below.
https://traumahealing.org/se-101/Psychedelics/ MDMA-Assisted therapy (Ecstasy): Emerging research on MDMA-assisted therapy shows promising results for treating complex PTSD. It is used in controlled therapeutic settings and can significantly enhance emotional engagement and processing of traumatic memories. This approach uses a safe emotional and psychological space for patients, allowing them to address and process deeply rooted trauma effectively. By reducing the fear response associated with traumatic memories, MDMA can help patients reevaluate and heal from past experiences, leading to significant improvements in emotional well-being and connectivity.
Conclusion: Toward a Comprehensive Approach to Healing
Addressing the full spectrum of physical and emotional health is essential for breaking the cycle of chronic illness linked to trauma. By integrating traditional medical treatments with therapeutic strategies aimed at healing trauma, we can achieve better health outcomes and a higher quality of life for those we care for.
(1) Levine, P. A., & Frederick, A. (Contributor) (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma through the innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.