Trauma and PTSD

You’re doing your best to make it through your day, when it happens again – you stop short.

The roaring behind your ears starts to grow.

And then everything begins to break into little pieces.

The tidal wave hits, and you’re underwater. Sometimes you swim frantically for your life, grabbing hold of anything that might float. Other times, you let yourself sink into the dark nothingness, too tired to keep fighting.

Trauma is what happens when something was just too much.

The word trauma evokes different images for each of us, from war and natural disaster to assault and childhood abuse. But regardless of how others would perceive a painful event, trauma can be defined as any experience that overwhelms your nervous system’s capacity to cope.

If you are experiencing panic, numbness, or intense rage, despair, or terror, it is often a sign that something has happened to disrupt the natural balance of your inner world.

Your Nervous System on Trauma

As we go through our day, we experience shifts in energy level and nervous system activation; our body “turns up the heat” to prepare us for challenging tasks and relaxes when additional energy is no longer needed.

While within the ups and downs of what’s referred to as our normal “window of tolerance,” we can think through our problems and get help from others when we need it. This natural fluctuation in arousal allows us to respond to the demands of life while remaining socially engaged with others.

But what happens when we sense that we cannot handle what is being thrown our way?

When our minds and bodies interpret an experience as overwhelmingly threatening, we lose access to our usual ways of coping. Our animal brains take over, sending us into fight or flight responses. We can get stuck on “high” or stuck on “low,” bouncing between freaking out and numbing out long after the threat is over. When things get even more intense, our thinking minds sometimes try to protect us by completely “checking out,” dissociating from what our bodies are experiencing.

Your Story on Trauma

Ordinarily, your sense of your life is like a book containing the storyline of where you’ve been, where you are, where you’re heading. You experience the events of your life as they unfold, and your mind binds them into your memory to create a (generally) coherent narrative.

But remember that part where if things become too intense, your thinking mind goes off-line?

Your body registers the shock, but the usual “book-binding” process gets disrupted – that page of your story doesn’t get woven into context.

This break in your internal timeline explains experiences like flashbacks, when it feels like a page from your past is happening right now. The misplaced page can also distort the plot and twist the characters, deeply impacting the way you see yourself and the world around you.

By understanding and working with your natural survival responses, you can release the tension your body holds – and begin to make new meaning from your experiences.

I can help you to finally own and understand your story – and gain the freedom to keep writing!

Call (323) 510-1221 now for a free 20-minute phone consultation.