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This post was developed via a partnership with BetterHelp.
Imagine feeling like you’re being hunted by a wild animal and your life is in imminent danger. That’s what PTSD may feel like to a person experiencing the physical symptoms of fight-flight-freeze, which is triggered in the body when we feel danger. This fight-flight-freeze response was meant to help our ancestors avert physical threats from the likes of sabre-tooth tigers. But our fight-flight-freeze response can also be triggered by abuse and trauma, which can become overactive and lead to negative health effects.
There are many people suffering from PTSD who have never served in the military or been to war. The fact is that almost anyone can suffer from the effects of a traumatic event or abuse. And while there’s way to undo a traumatic event after it has happened, there are ways to make the thoughts surrounding an event feel less disturbing. Check out this informative guide from BetterHelp to understand how someone can develop PTSD from emotional trauma.
In this article, we’ll look at how anyone who has experienced trauma or abuse can develop PTSD symptoms, and the science-backed ways PTSD can be treated.
What Is PTSD?
One way to better understand post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is by learning about the important part it plays in our body’s survival mechanism. The symptoms of PTSD are linked to the body’s autonomic nervous system. Let’s look at how this protective response works automatically in our bodies.
How The Body’s Autonomic Nervous System Works
All humans have an autonomic nervous system that has the power to regulate a wide range of involuntary processes in the body, including breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, sexual arousal, and digestion. The autonomic nervous system is divided into a sympathetic response and a parasympathetic response, as well as the enteric response that controls digestion.
When we feel a threat, our sympathetic response springs into action to help us avoid danger by inducing fight-flight-freeze, which sends a spike of cortisol into our bloodstream. In addition to an increase in energy and focus, we may feel a rapid heart rate and fast breathing.
In some ways, PTSD is the incorrect assessment of a threat that may be but a memory from the past. Even though the threat is no longer present, we may still be reliving the trauma. Whether a person is facing a current danger or past trauma, our brains may be treating the potential both the same way. This is how someone can continue to relive the trauma of an event and feel the strong physical sensation of something that has taken place in the past.
The Body’s Calming Parasympathetic Response
The human body is also wired to bring us out of the fight-flight-freeze response through the parasympathetic nervous system. Once our body understands we’re no longer in a heightened state of danger, our brain sends out the parasympathetic response to take down the level of cortisol and bring calm throughout the body.
But sometimes we’re not able to feel calm again, and the parasympathetic response isn’t strong enough to dampen the fight-flight-freeze response. In studies, people experiencing PTSD have been show to have an underactive parasympathetic response and overactive sympathetic response. That means someone with PTSD could feel like they’re often on alert for danger, yet also have trouble getting relief or being able to feel calm.
What Are The Ways PTSD Can Be Treated?
There are a number of interventions that may help a person better regulate their autonomic system (both the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses). The same study suggests that those experiencing PTSD may be aided in their recovery by gaining great control over the physiological symptoms of the sympathetic nervous system. Some of the effective interventions include biofeedback, mindfulness, and yoga. Those looking for a comprehensive approach to healing PTSD may click here to explore holistic treatment options available in Thailand, which specialize in combining traditional and modern therapies.
These interventions may also be able to help patients better modulate negative patterns of autonomic dysfunction, where the stress response of the sympathetic system becomes hyperactive and the calming response of the parasympathetic system is underactive. Let’s look at a few in more detail:
- EMDR – Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic technique that uses eye movement to help people reprocess their trauma.
- Mindfulness – Mindfulness practices can also help people to become more aware of their body and modulate their breathing, which can help strengthen the calming response of the parasympathetic nervous system.
- Yoga – Yoga can help a person become more in tune with their body, and learn movements that may help to encourage a calming effect.
- Talk therapy – Psychotherapy can help a person learn that their symptoms are a natural experience. A therapist can be helpful in guiding a person through the process of developing self-compassion.
In Conclusion
Learning to manage the symptoms of PTSD can be a lifelong process, fortunately there are many science-backed methods that have been shown to be effective in healing. No one should suffer alone with PTSD, there’s help out there. Please don’t hesitate to contact a therapist to receive treatment.
