Written by Dr Janet Williams, Trauma Specialist
Dr Janet Williams is a trauma specialist working in the UK but now mainly online. Her doctoral research explored the biopsychosocial impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the systemic implications of intergenerational trauma.
Following on from Part 1 and 2, this article looks more precisely at how trauma manifests in everyday life. As mentioned in Part 1, the nervous system of someone with unresolved trauma locked in the body is either in hyper-or hypo-arousal, most if not all of the time.
A body in hyper-arousal finds it difficult to be still and is in a state of agitation, a bit like a house with the voltage in the electrical circuit running too high. If the voltage remains high and has any boosts of nervous tension due to everyday challenges such as stress from a deadline, a difficult relational situation, an exam and so forth, there is a chance that the entire system will blow out and fuse. This is what we refer to as a panic attack.
Even though panic attacks are extremely distressing at the time, often the body feels some relief once it has passed, because the system has had a major release and reset itself. But of course, the perpetuation of traumatic responses from daily triggers starts the build-up of nervous tension once again.
On an emotional level, living with a heightened nervous system creates a sense of unsettlement, of not feeling safe. The legacy of trauma makes us unnervingly feel that something bad is going to happen again. This leads to anxious thoughts and worries, which can develop into irrational fears, phobias and obsessive-compulsive behaviours.
Another way to deal with the high level of stress in the body is to fixate on other things to distract and alleviate the ongoing anguish, e.g., eating disorders or addictive behaviour such as gambling, hoarding, watching pornography, shopping...anything in excess that becomes an unhealthy habit, with detrimental consequences that make life even harder to manage. And of course, addictive substances such as drugs and alcohol are common attempts to ease this pain and unbearable tension.
At the other end of the scale, living with persistent episodes of hypo-arousal leads to a life of disconnection and lack of vitality. The way the body tries to avoid further distress is to shut down and numb itself from pain. A sense of emptiness from not living life to the full often results in a withdrawal from social interactions, in an attempt to stay safe and protect oneself from further harm. One of the main consequences of this coping strategy is low mood that leads to a state of depression.
The reason for sharing these different manifestations of trauma, is to highlight that so much of our daily challenges, even to the point of suffering from anxiety and depression, are common consequences of unresolved trauma. Far too often I have heard how clients have been pathologized by statutory services, giving them a diagnosis of a mental illness, which confirms their sense of being broken. To experience these challenges does not mean that we are flawed, just that we have not yet found a way to heal the past and release the trauma we continue to hold in the body.
Understanding trauma is so important for everyone working in the field of mental health and for anyone who is concerned about their wellbeing. One of the key realisations for clients embarking on the journey of healing their past, is to recognise that their trauma is not who they are but what has happened to them.
As we continue with this series of articles, Dr Williams will share more about the simple ways we can address our traumatic past and how it manifests today, so that it is truly healed once and for all.
Dr Williams has run a successful Trauma Counselling Programme in Bath, UK, these past three years and is now making the 10-week programme available online to increase accessibility. She works with all types of trauma, and has remarkable data evidencing the efficacy of the programme in a matter of weeks. Her work is founded on a deeply relational person-centred approach, with an eclectic mix of evidence-based techniques and a strong focus on the somatic experiences within the body.
