TRAUMA SITS IN THE BODY
By Zenobia Nankani (an Art Therapist and Counsellor working with Somatic Intelligence TM)
Trauma is almost a universal part of human experience. We usually associate trauma with extreme circumstances like abuse – physical, mental, emotional, rape and domestic violence, or natural disasters. This is acute trauma. However, even those of us who did not experience such incidents experienced trauma in life.
Being scolded or beaten by a parent/caregiver, mother or caregiver’s unavailability, emotional withdrawal, financial or emotional crisis in the family, the mother’s own emotional condition, her mental and emotional state when pregnant are all traumatic episodes for the child and affect brain development.
Childhood experiences are a major contributor to the onset of illness. Research shows that children are especially vulnerable to trauma because their brains are still developing. Physical or mental illness, behavior issues or even addiction, stem from what happens to people in the early years of life. Children experience a heightened state of stress during threatening events and their bodies release hormones related to stress and fear. This type of developmental trauma can disrupt normal brain development affecting long term emotional development, mental and physical health and even behavior.
When a child’s needs are regularly ignored he learns to anticipate rejection and withdrawal. He copes by blocking out the neglect and acting as if it does not matter. But it DOES. The body continues to remain in a state of high alert, prepared to ward of any blows, deprivation or abandonment. And with this comes a sense of fear and helplessness that persists into adulthood.
This sense does not just go away. It sits in the body. The fight-flight signals are continuously firing in the nervous system keeping one hyper vigilant and persistently on edge for no apparent reason. Smallest triggers spell imminent doom. These powerful feelings are generated deep inside the brain and cannot be eliminated by reason or understanding.
Some of the common addictive behavior patterns that emerge include workaholism. Being highly focused on achievement yet unable to savor the success. Workaholics feel fully alive only when they are totally absorbed in work, allowing them to escape their reality at the cost of their own aliveness and purpose in their lives.
Another is being chronically angry or scared. The constant muscle tension ultimately leads to spasms, back pain, chronic neck pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, and other kinds of pain.
Respiratory issues, asthma, digestive problems, irritable bowel syndrome, auto immune disorders, chronic fatigue are manifestation of the holding pattern of trauma within the body. Research has proved today that traumatized children have 50 times higher risk of asthma in
In fact, recent research also points towards behavior issues of anxiety and restlessness, ADD and ADHD, originating in trauma. A sense of self numbing, lack of awareness of the body are also trauma responses.
Trauma, like any other emotion, requires a discharge. The body has immense potential to heal itself. Mindfulness practices, abdominal breathing techniques, grounding and centering, embodiment and connection with the body are all tools to help us rewire our nervous system helping us move from trauma state response to mindful awareness.