Trauma and Your Nervous System 

There usually isn’t one single life event that causes trauma and nervous system dysregulation, but a series of events or circumstances, many times starting early in life. It can be deeply confusing or frustrating for those struggling with traumatic experiences, PTSD, or highly stressful lives to understand how trauma not only changes the way the brain functions but also the body.

Nervous system dysregulation happens when someone experiences dangerous, traumatic, or stressful situations for a prolonged period and is continually entering the sympathetic state (fight/flight/freeze). Over time, the nervous system adapts to be on alert for constant danger, pumping the body with inflammatory stress hormones even when there is no real danger present. This dysregulated nervous system leads to anxiety, depression, PTSD, feelings of fear, rage/anger, problems with mood, lack of emotional regulation, overthinking, poor sleep, chronic pain, migraines, asthma, inflammation, weight gain, ADD, IBS/digestive issues, poor immunity, and autoimmune disease.