Can Unprocessed Trauma Really Be Stored in the Body?

When trauma occurs, the brain functions differently.

Under normal circumstances, the brain will encode what it needs to encode, send it, process it, and store it or dispose of it, then your life goes on. As a result, your memories stay intact.

Stress and trauma make this a completely different process.

We have electrical impulses that tell our brains and bodies what to do. When things are normal, this process is works well and is not a big deal.

Well, what is different during a traumatic situation?

During a stressful or traumatic situation, your “fight or flight” response will get triggered. This is because your body senses danger. Hormones are sent out. These hormones are red alert signals from the body. This is the reason so many trauma victims don’t remember things; during the traumatic event, their attention was focused completely on getting the body back to safety.

According to National Center for Biotechnology Information, past trauma can have an impact on your future physical health. The emotional and physical reactions of unprocessed trauma can even lead to serious health conditions, such as heart attacks, insomnia, diabetes, and cancer.

Honestly, you may not even realize someone is being affected by trauma. The physical effects of trauma may be invisible to someone else. However, untreated trauma will weaken the body’s defenses over time.

“The body stores the trauma of our lives in muscular rigidity, thereby keeping us stuck in the past. When we release the tension in the body and align ourselves with gravity, we take a new stand in life. This allows us to be at ease with ourselves and in harmony in our relationship to others and to our planet.”— Joseph Heller

During trauma, memory is not processed correctly. If memory isn’t processed correctly, it won’t be stored properly. This results in what is called dissociation. Basically, your memories are split into fragments. These fragments commonly manifest themselves as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is not just limited to people who have been in war or the military. It is the normal reaction to extreme trauma, just as bleeding is the normal reaction to someone stabbing you.

“It isn’t in my past. It’s in my every day.” — Helen Wilson

Trauma and PTSD cause the brain’s stress processing system to change

Unprocessed trauma will cause your mental processes to malfunction, which in turn cause your body’s physical processes to malfunction as well.

According to the National Institute for the Clinical application of Behavioral Medicine (that’s a mouthful), Peter Levine, Phd, was able to help a man “trace the source of his unremitting back pain” to past trauma.

The body stores emotional trauma in its cells. All of these cells have memory, and the pain (physical or emotional) can be trapped in the muscles. By understanding it and gaining insight, this pain can be released.

You don’t have to let trauma control you for the rest of your life. You can and should definitely get help! You are not alone.

By combining talk therapy that is targeting those past traumatic memories, with meditation or yoga, you can help begin the healing process for your mind and body.

I have heard in my own therapy sessions that “pain shared is pain lessened.” I find that to be very true. I also find meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises to work wonders when it comes from the physical wear and tear on my body that comes from my own stress and trauma.

Your trauma is not your fault, but your healing is your responsibility.

Remember, don’t be afraid to share your trauma. Seeking help for emotional or physical trauma is brave.

It can be very difficult and painful to revisit a traumatic experience. But if we try to avoid these experiences, they will continue to haunt us. Trying to push away what we do remember about past trauma will only cause the thoughts to intrude on our minds even more.

By sharing your trauma, your feelings of shame will begin to subside. You will realize there is no reason to be afraid or to feel like you have something to hide. In fact, you may even notice a difference in your posture. You will no longer feel ashamed or guilty to head your high because of your trauma.

The memory of your trauma will become less triggering to you. You may even begin to make sense of your trauma. Sharing your story can help you realize it isn’t your fault.

Don’t be afraid. It is time to heal.

“You’re not a victim for sharing your story. You are a survivor setting the world on fire with your truth. And you never know who needs your light, your warmth and raging courage.” — Alex Elle

This post was originally published on Medium.