Trauma facilitates disconnection. Disconnection within families, friendships, and communities, and disconnection from ourselves. Trauma alienates us from our bodies through suppression, dissociation, self-loathing, self-harm, eating disorders, addictions, chronic disease, and many more unhelpful coping strategies. The study of trauma and its effects on the body and brain are simultaneously new and old. People in the psychology and psychiatry fields have been studying trauma since Freud coined his term “hysteria,” which we now know was the resulting consequences of early developmental trauma and abuse. However, the field has leaped forward in the past several decades as society has been increasingly willing to look at the prevalence and effects of trauma on the human body and psyche. We, as a society and as a field, still have a long way to go, but we have also seen huge strides that make treatment and acceptance much more common.
The field of traumatology has grown rapidly in the last several decades, but current treatment models are still catching up to the research. In addition to new information and studies on the impact of trauma on our brain and body, we are also seeing advances in the field of chronic illness and disease.
Inflammation is a foundational component in the vast majority of chronic and terminal diseases. The body has an innate mechanism for dealing with physical and psychological trauma. When an overwhelming or hurtful event occurs, physically or mentally, the body begins the process of increasing inflammation to mitigate the damage from the incident. This is helpful and protective when it is acute and time-limited; however, when this process becomes chronic, it can lead to other problems.
Along with the growth in the field of traumatology there has been an expansion in psychoneuroimmunology, a field that examines the relationship between neurology, psychology, and immunology. This means that what we experience psychologically and the state of our mental health has an impact on our immune system and other systems throughout the body. Psychoneuroimmunology explores the mechanisms of action that turn trauma into inflammation in the body.
Just as trauma and chronic stress lead to inflammation over time, trauma and inflammation also have a bidirectional relationship. This means that someone who may already have high levels of inflammation will also be more susceptible to the effects of trauma. Essentially, their capacity for holding traumatic and stressful experiences is diminished due to the already reduced capacity of the physical body. These two aspects create a feedback loop that results in an overactivation of the nervous system and the onset of chronic disease. Unless this loop is interrupted, the body will continue to deteriorate as it attempts to compensate for the stress.
Due to this bidirectional relationship, it’s important to note that someone struggling with a mental health condition may also have a co-occurring chronic disease. Conversely, it is important for someone diagnosed with a chronic illness also to be assessed for trauma and mental health conditions. The interweave between these two topics is particularly important for those living with autoimmune conditions, chronic illnesses, or “mystery illnesses” that are influenced by chronic stress and trauma throughout one’s lifespan.
