(gentle upbeat music)
(bell dings)
- [Narrator] Hey, Psych2Goers,
welcome back to another video.
Let's get into it.
Have you experienced something traumatic in the past?
According to a study published
in the Journal of Traumatic Stress,
approximately 70% of adults in the United States
have, or will experience, a traumatic event in their lives.
So it's not as rare as you may think it is.
On the same note, people often assume that trauma
only affects the mind, perhaps in the form of PTSD.
However, it can actually affect
your physical well-being as well.
So here are five physical signs of past trauma
that most people miss.
And before we begin, we would like to mention
that this video is created for educational purposes only
and is not intended to substitute a professional diagnosis.
If you're struggling to cope with trauma
or are suffering from any mental health condition,
we highly advise you to seek help
from a qualified mental health professional
and avoid diagnosing yourself or others.
Number one, fight or flight.
Trauma often makes you feel
as though there is threat around every corner.
In response to this feeling of being in danger,
your fight or flight system may kick in.
Some physical manifestations
of this fight or flight response
is a sudden sense of hyper-vigilance
and the feeling of being unsettled or agitated.
This fear does not necessarily
have to stem from possible physical violence,
as it can also stem from being afraid of getting hurt
or attacked emotionally or verbally,
or even from needing to relive a humiliating experience.
However, there are various ways to treat this symptom.
Mindfulness is a great tool that can help you
learn to calm down whenever you're feeling overwhelmed.
If you are working with a therapist,
you can reach out to them
about establishing a cognitive behavioral treatment.
CBT treatment can give you the tools necessary
to reinterpret your environment and assumed threats.
Number two, chronic fatigue.
Chronic fatigue can be a by-product
of different mental health issues and also from past trauma.
Since your body is not designed
to feel prolonged and high levels of stress all the time,
you may end up experiencing chronic fatigue.
Fight or flight is meant to happen in short bursts,
not sustained periods of time.
Studies have even shown that those with PTSD
are eight times likelier to develop chronic fatigue.
Luckily, there are many types of techniques you can try
to help you cope with stress.
The most popular method is meditation.
It may feel daunting and difficult to do at first,
but there are many educational apps
and online guides that may help.
Number three, chronic pain.
Sometimes traumatic events can end up causing physical pain.
There've been countless studies about the mind-body link,
showing how our emotions can affect us physically.
For example, we know that physical distress
can lead to mental distress and vice versa.
There have also been various studies analyzing trauma
and chronic pain, specifically on fibromyalgia.
A study published in 2018
found that patients who experienced childhood trauma
reported higher symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Other studies have also delved into the neural structure
of how we perceive trauma
and how it affects our pain reception.
So if you experienced chronic pain as the result of trauma,
you may want to work with your physician and therapist
to address both the psychological
and physiological repercussions of your trauma.
Number four, GI distress.
Have you experienced GI distress before,
perhaps in the past, in the form of nausea
or gassiness right before a big presentation?
Well, gastrointestinal distress is an unknown
and underrated physical manifestation of past trauma.
Gastrointestinal distress as a result of trauma
is more than just temporary discomfort,
it can lead to intestinal problems
such as inflammation, dysfunction, or irritation.
The gut houses so many necessary neuro-transmitters
and is in constant communication with the brain
that it's important to pay attention
to any unexplained intestinal issues should they arise.
And number five, chronic headaches.
Our bodies often harbor tension and stress
in different places.
The most popular place is the upper body,
specifically the head and neck.
Unless you have a condition that causes frequent headaches,
you may want to consider unresolved trauma
as a possible cause.
There are different ways to treat tension headaches,
applying a hot or cold press is one way,
but the best alternative for this type of chronic headaches
may be to work towards resolving your trauma.
Working with a mental health professional
is highly recommended for this,
as they may be able to teach you techniques
to cope with stress and anxieties you're experiencing.
One of the more recent types of treatment
is called somatic experiencing.
It's a type of therapy focused on the mind-body connection
and aims to address both physical
and physiological symptoms of events like grief,
trauma, anxiety, and depression.
They treat the physical manifestations of the trauma first,
and then discuss the psychological symptoms after.
Have you experienced any of these signs?
Let us know in the comments below.
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The references and studies used in this video
are added in the description below.
Thanks for watching, and we'll see you in our next video.