SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES OF TRAUMA
When our nervous systems prepare us to meet danger, they shift us into highly energized states. If we can discharge this energy while actively and effectively defending against threat (or shortly after the threatening event), the nervous system will move back toward a normal level of functioning. If not, the nervous system compensates for being in a state of self-perpetuating arousal by setting off a chain of adaptations that eventually bind and organize the energy. This energy must go somewhere and that place is called "symptoms".
The first symptoms of trauma usually appear
shortly after the event that engendered them. Other symptoms will develop over time, sometimes
months or years later.
Types of Symptoms
- PTSD (Post traumatic stress)
- Anxiety,
- Panic Attacks
- Hyperarousal
- Constriction
- Phantom pain
- Dissociation (including denial)
- Feelings of helplessness
- Easily and Frequently Stressed Out
- Difficulty Sleeping
- Phobias
- Dizziness/Vertigo
- Troubled Breathing
- Headaches
- Unresolved Pain
- Pain
- Hypervigilance
- Fatigued
- Abrupt Mood Swings: (rage reactions, tantrums, shame)
- Extreme Sensitivity to Light / Sound
- Intrusive Imagery
- Nightmares or Night Terrors
- Chronic Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
- Emotional Flooding
- Hyperactivity
- Gastrointestinal Problems
- Bladder Interstitial Cystitis
- Pelvic Pain
- Self Regulation Problems
- Feeling Disconnected to Life
Types of causes:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Falls
- Personal accidents and injuries
- Physical or Emotional abuse
- Invasive medical or surgical procedures
- Illness
- Near drowning
- War
- Natural disasters
- Violent acts/attacks
- Overwhelming life experiences
- Dental Stress
- Amputations (lose of limbs)
- Experiencing or witnessing violence or horror
- Ritual abuse
- Generational and Social trauma
Pre and perinatal stress
