Scientists now have more evidence than ever before revealing the intimate, intertwined relationship between the mind and body.
But what do the experts think?
First, you better understand that trauma affects everyone at one point or another.
As humans, we will all experience some sort of trauma.
Trauma isn’t something that has to be one specific event, either.
you’re able to think of these as big-T and little-T traumas.
What’s happening in the body during and after a traumatic experience?
“The primary response we often have to trauma is fight or flight,” says Gordon.
In some cases, a traumatic event doesn’t cause prolonged suffering.
Chan School of Public Health who studies PTSD.
So can unprocessed trauma actually become “stuck” or “stored” in the physical body?
“Trauma often represents the violation of all we hold to be dear and sacred.
They become stuck points that inhibit the mental reintegration that is needed for healing to occur.”
Some experts, including Gordon,doview this as our body storing or holding on to trauma.
“Everything that happens to us emotionally or psychologically happens to our bodies as well.
It’s all connected,” he says.
And I believe this tension is connected with the traumatic experience in ways we don’t completely understand."
Of course, this would be hard to prove, but it’s certainly interesting to think about.
“There isn’t just one aspect to our memory of trauma.
The short answerand the one you likely expectedis maybe, but we don’t really know.
There haven’t exactly been studies on this stuff.
Or, put another way, that emotional trauma creates dense, energetic forms in our body.
Blakeway doesn’t believe acupuncture is a “cure” for trauma.
“I had one patient who had been raped in college and developedendometriosis.
It had been an earth-shatteringly horrible experience for her, and she was extremely vulnerable.
And we just got things flowing very gently.
She was seeing a therapist at the same time, and we were all contributing pieces to the puzzle.
She went on to get married and have children.
Now, this is theoretical, but it sure looks like it could be the case.”
And while it might sound silly, the effects can be pretty dramatic.
“I was leading a workshop for about 100 nursing students.
Researchers suspect theremaybe something to this, but it hasn’t been proved.
Consider yoga, which couples movement with breathing.
“And that physiological response, I imagine, could kind of calm your immune system.
In other words, it’s almost like the opposite trauma.”
The way you manage one of these “emotional releases” is key.
“Just like with PTSD, having flashbacks is not helpful.
It’s only helpful if they’re treated and can be diminished.”
You just feel a certain wayyou feel angry, sad, or afraid,” she says.
“I have a lot of radical remission survivors who had great healing from EMDR,” says Turner.
“Scientifically, EMDR has been shown to significantly decrease activity in your amygdala and hippocampus.
So you’re basically taking this stress response that is kind of always on and quieting that down.”
BothEMDR7andsomatic experiencing8have been shown in studies to be beneficial for the treatment of trauma and PTSD.
“I recommend that people write down their experience.
Clearly, things are complex.
Yes, it could potentially be an important catalyst for healing, but someone may need much more.
“We’re pretty complex creatures,” says Gordon.
