Mind-Body Disconnection

Mind

When we feel safe, we feel comfortable in our bodies and our environments, and we feel safe with one another. Sadly, when we do not feel safe, our autonomic nervous system learns that survival is our number one goal.

Trauma shatters our feelings of safety, and we struggle to feel safe in our bodies, environments, and relationships. When a traumatic or distressing event occurs, we create a story to make sense of the experience. We develop negative beliefs about ourselves. We may believe that we did something wrong or we are something wrong; we feel that we have no power, no choice over what happened to us, and we act on those beliefs unknowingly.

We become isolated and disconnected from meaningful and healthy relationships, and the world feels threatening, filled with overwhelming problems and obstacles. We feel different and wonder why everyone else seems able to achieve happiness; we wonder why it looks so easy for everyone but us.

The negative belief, the distressing feeling, and the sensations in the body generate stories about the outside world and our safety in it and establishes a protective survival mechanism to fight, run (flight) or freeze.

Anxiety is usually caused by worrying that something terrible is going to happen. It causes us to constantly feel on edge, be unable to fall asleep or stay asleep, and have a hard time concentrating on things. We can even become anxious when we believe we’ve made a mistake or aren’t perfect. Anxiety can also be caused by trauma or distressing events that have happened to us; if we’re reminded of the distress, we feel anxious again.

Over 1⁄2 of those diagnosed with anxiety also suffer from depression. Depression can develop due to a reaction to a situation, a distressing life event, or even a change in seasons. Depression causes us to feel hopeless and discouraged, worthless, anxious, angry, and irritable. We lose interest in things that used to interest us, and we may isolate and neglect hygiene and our appearance.

We usually feel a lack of energy, loss of appetite, and oversleeping. We find it hard to concentrate and can become suicidal.

Body

It’s not what happened; it’s how the event was experienced. What makes an event traumatic is the powerlessness and the sense of overwhelm that accompanies it. The event is traumatic if the physical and psychological resources were insufficient for effective coping.

For many, the physical experience of trauma leads to a feeling of physical disconnection from the body or dissociation. For others, the physical experience of trauma can lead to hyper-vigilance, hypersensitivity to sensory stimulation, and a sense of overwhelmingness. These are just a few common physical responses to trauma that we can experience in the body in many varied and unique ways.

When the mind moves out of the present moment and experiences and sees forward in time into anxiety or backward in time into depression, it takes the physical body on that trip.

In the traumatized brain, images, emotions, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensory nervous system experiences from the traumatic event exist as fragments in the limbic system. Think of puzzle pieces that don’t fit together, there is no coherent picture or logical story that truly makes sense of the event. It explains why we are easily triggered to fight, flight, or freeze anytime our body has a similar sensation as the original trauma or distressing event and anytime we experience a person, place, or situation that triggers our negative beliefs and feelings.

Any part of the traumatic or distressing event can trigger our protective survival mechanism. The amygdala, also located in the limbic system, acts as the body’s panic button. If the amygdala panics due to the signal, the fight, flight, or freeze response is activated.

The fight and flight response signals the body to release adrenaline and several endocrine hormones into the bloodstream. When adrenaline and endocrine hormones are released, the following effects occur:

• Cortisol production is increased.

• Blood sugar levels are increased. This blood sugar is used to feed the brain and muscles.

• Heart rate is increased. Blood is pumped more quickly throughout the body, especially to the muscles needed for fighting and running

• Blood flow changes occur. Blood is diverted away from the hands, feet, and stomach, and towards the brain and major muscle groups.

• Platelet levels are increased. An increased level of platelets in the bloodstream helps the blood to clot better and faster in the event of physical injury

• Endorphin levels are increased. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers. This process helps us to disregard pain long enough to engage in actions that we might not otherwise choose to survive.

• Executive (prefrontal cortex) brain functions are not accessible during the fight, flight, or freeze response because the limbic system is now in charge. It would not be safe for us to be reasoning, judging, or logically examining the traumatic event; we need to be acting!

When the brain determines that fighting or running would not increase the chance of survival, the freeze response is deployed. This is a typical response to childhood abuse and rape. As much as a child or rape victim would like to fight back or run from the threatening adult or situation, they recognize they will likely not survive by doing so. They may even try but eventually give up and freeze. The freeze response is a survival mechanism that gives us time to assess the situation. The freeze response is typically followed by the flight response. Once the danger passes, the victim can run from the situation to stay safe.

The freeze response includes most of the mechanisms of the fight and flight response; the same chemicals are released; however, the actions of the body are different. During the freeze response, we cannot move or speak because to do so would put us in danger. Our bodies are locked in the same survival mechanism that animals use when they play dead.

Unlike the fight or flight response, heart rate and breathing slow down and we may find that we hold our breath. We may feel cold or numb and we might experience a sense of being trapped within our bodies. Although every part of us might feel a strong desire to fight or run, our muscles are immobilized.

The freeze response can leave us feeling paralyzed in fear. The physical impact of the stress hormones is amplified, causing intense negative emotions such as extreme shock, anxiety, panic, and terror. When we feel powerless to protect and defend ourselves, the experience overwhelms us and our brain shuts down, enabling us to dissociate from the experience. Dissociation can change our perceptions of reality and time appears to slow down; we might experience complete separation from our bodies and mind.

It may feel like we are watching the event happen to us, but we are not connected to our bodies or other people. When we have memories of the event, we may feel physically small and view the event as an observer.