Anxiety, Trauma & the Body

If you have experienced trauma, anxiety or depression, you know that they are very viceral. Anyone who has experienced anxiety will be familiar with the feeling of your heart racing, getting hot, your throat closing or your stomach turning. The thoughts and emotions we feel are deeply interconnected with our bodies. Why is this and how does this work? How do we get rid of the feeling of our throat closing every time we get anxious? Let's start by understanding how the body is interconnected with our emotions. 

Why Consider the Body?

The body is the seat of emotion. This means that often the emotions and feelings we have typically start as a physical sensation. Noticing what is coming up in the body will help us to better manage the impacts of mental health.

How does understanding more about the body help us?  

1. Understanding how our body responds helps us to make sense of our experiences in the world.  
   Because our body is hardwired to keep us safe, alive, and to survive danger, several automatic defences kick in when we experience a trigger.  

2. Becoming aware of what our body is trying to communicate with us allows us to respond well.  
   We can respond in a way that helps us to settle feelings of being activated/ triggered, to keep ourselves safe, or to respond in a way that is in alignment with our values.  

Let’s start with an example: 

You are hiking in the forest, and you are just outside of the camping area where you will stay tonight. You can hear people who are cooking their dinner, laughing, and talking. Suddenly you see a great big bear 100 meters away! Your heart starts pounding, your vision gets really focused, your muscles tense. In a split second your brain determines, without your conscious input, that the bear is too big to fight so you run as fast as you can to the campsite. You can feel your heart pound as you sprint, and your muscles propel you forward to safety. You see an open door to a large wooden lodge where you will camp. Quickly, you run inside and slam the thick wood door shut. With a large, heavy wood beam, you lock the door shut. Park rangers who are used to working around bears notice the bear and scare it away with loud noises. The people in the lodge can tell that you were afraid. A woman who is there with her kids gives you a big, long hug. You can feel your heart slow down and muscles relax. She invites you to join them in cooking dinner, gives you a cup of hot chocolate and shares her food with you. As you are in the lodge, you enjoy the sound of people chattering, the smell of food, and the warm atmosphere. You are able to take a long deep breath and feel yourself settle and muscles relax.

This would be a pretty scary experience. This also outlines a typical stress response:  

1. You spot the bear.  

2. The part of your brain that functions like a smoke detector sounds the alarm for danger. This mobilizes you into action as your brain releases a bunch of hormones that cause physical changes in your body to amp you up for action. 

3. This activates your fight-flight response, helping you to run to safety.  

4. Your body completed the stress cycle by fleeing and acting on the increased mobilization and can reenter a state of safety and rest.  

Activation: What is It? 

Activators (triggers) are the cues that activate a stress response. 

• We detect activators through our 5 senses: what we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.  
  Ex. a smell of perfume, someone touching our shoulder, etc. 

• They can also be thoughts, emotions, or aspects of our internal experience. 
  Ex. feelings of shame, worries about a job application, or a body sensation (like a tightness in the chest) 

• They could also include social dynamics or aspects of relationships. 
  Ex. someone being antagonistic, power dynamics (like people with more authority), etc.  

Activators are different from activation.  

The level of activation is the physiological response.  

Activation is like a gas pedal that pumps gasoline into the engine of the car, propelling it forward. Except the gas pedal is our stress system/ nervous system mobilizing our body for action.  

Some activators might lightly press the pedal (such as, waking up late for an appointment and rushing out the door) versus other events that really slam on the gas pedal (such as, seeing an angry bear running at us or someone robbing us at gunpoint).   

What is the Nervous System (and what does it have to do with anything)? 

The nervous system is sort of like the control center in your body that sends signals to all other organs, body parts and systems. It includes your brain and spinal cord (central nervous system), and nerves that run throughout your whole body (peripheral nervous system), communicating information from your brain to your body, and from your body back to your brain and spinal cord.  

Some parts of our brain we have conscious control of which allows us to plan for the future, think about what we are doing now, talk with other people, or get up and walk. Other parts of our brain run on autopilot, and we do not have control over them. It keeps things going without us having to think about them, like our heart beating, our intestines digesting, and our lungs breathing.  

Why does this matter?

Our emotions, thoughts, relationships, and body are all deeply interconnected. Understanding how our body and stress system works is one of the first steps in managing anxiety and trauma. 

Anxiety is as much a physical experience in the body as it is an emotional or cognitive experience. This is actually good news! There are countless tools we have to use to calm the nervous system and restore a sense of peace that we can practice in counselling. When we ignore the experience of anxiety, trauma or stress in the body, we often get stuck in prolonged experiences of anxiety or stress, and it can amplify anxiety when we try to ignore it. 

How We Deal with Anxiety

In counselling, we work to identify actvitators for anxiety/ trauma. This can bring awareness to our daily experience and help us to know why we suddenly feel anxious or amped up. We also explore the experiences and beliefs underlying the activator/trigger to deal with the root of the anxiety. We also learn and practice ways of dampening the stress response and restoring a felt sense of peace in the body, which helps restore peace in our mind and emotions. 

As we become more aware of how anxiety, trauma and stress show up in the body, we learn to identify and manage the anxiety early. In other words, we help you to catch and manage the anxiety while it is a 1/10 instead of an 8/10 (which becomes much harder and unpleasant to manage). 

There is no need to live with enduring fear and anxiety and practical ways to restore peace to our mind, body and emotions. I used to live with anxiety, and understand how awful and debilitating it can be. The good news is that there is full freedom available from anxiety and fear. We are here to help you navigate this process. 

References

Corrigan, F., Fisher, J., & Nutt, D. (2010). Autonomic dysregulation and the window of tolerance model of the effects of complex emotional trauma. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881109354930 

Kozlowska, K., Walker, P., McLean, L., & Carrive, P. (2014). Fear and the defense cascade: Clinical implications and management. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 23(4), 263–287. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000065  

Porges, S. W. (2017). The pocket guide to the polyvagal theory. W W Norton & Co. 

Van der Kolk, B. A. (2015). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind and body in the treatment of trauma. Viking Press. 

Understanding Addiction & the Road to Recovery

What is addiction and how do we heal? If you have experienced addiction, you are probably familiar with the feeling of being trapped and unable to stop. Addictions can feel like you are stuck in prison, in an abusive relationship, or are enslaved to something. If you hate it, why is it hard to stop? You may have heard it is because there is a chemical imbalance in the brain or that drugs/alcohol are chemically addictive, but could there be more to the story?

Dopamine & Addiction

The chemical component is certainly part of the story. With advancements in neuroimaging, we have learned a lot about the reward pathways and dopamine system in the brain. In short, the brain communicates through chemical signals called neurotransmitters. Dopamine is one type of neurotransmitter that reinforces or ‘rewards’ behaviours that are important for survival and is part of addiction. 

For example, you eat a sandwich and then your brain releases a small amount of dopamine. On a chemical level, it is like our brain gives us a little gold star, saying, “good job, keep doing that!”. Dopamine is also released when someone smiles at us, we are given something, we have sex, and countless other behaviours. 

However, addictions, particularly substances like alcohol, opiates, cocaine, and other drugs (but also process addictions like pornography, gambling, shoping, sex, etc.), override our normal dopamine system. Rather than giving a gold star, something like heroin will trigger a supernova in our brains. Even though other behaviours like eating lunch or spending time with family are still rewarding, they pale in comparison, at least on a neurobiological level. This is partly why addictions can rip apart our lives- the gravity of the addiction is so strong that it pulls us away from all the other things that we care about. 

Dopamine is more about ‘wanting’ than it is about ‘liking’. We may ‘want’ or ‘need’ the thing that we are addicted to on a chemical level, but emotionally hate it.

So if we can re-regulate the dopamine pathways, can we solve the addiction? It is not quite that simple, unfortunately. There is more to the story than just dopamine. 

Understanding our hardwiring is important when we try to understand addiction. The dopamine system is only one of many relevant neurobiological systems, and looking at neurobiology is only one part of the picture. Many systems are implicated in addiction (like the pain system), and other facets like spirituality, the social environment we live in, and even the economic-political environment. However, we will focus on just two systems in this post: the social attachment system and the survival-stress system. 

The Stress System & Addiction 

The stress system is online from our earliest moments. It helps us sense safety/ danger and act to keep us alive (think the fight-flight-collapse response). So when the stress system is activated, our body on a neurobiological level responds like we are in danger or could die. Anything that helps reduce the activation of the survival stress response then becomes associated with safety and survival and on a neurological level is reinforcing.

To illustrate with a theoretical example, Carrie is very anxious about experiencing rejection in social settings. Anxiety is an activation of the survival stress response, in which the body mobilizes energy to fight or flee. So, on a neurological level, Carrie’s nervous system has associated rejection with danger and will elicit a stress response when it anticipates rejection. However, when Carrie drinks alcohol, it helps her to feel calm and to dampen the stress response (since it depresses the central nervous system). This restores balance to the nervous system. 

However, Carrie has become reliant on alcohol to regulate her stress response. Although she used to only drink in social scenarios, alcohol became the primary way that Carrie has learned to manage her anxiety and feelings of overwhelm. 

In this example, alcohol is chemically reinforcing- dopamine is released when she drinks. Since Carrie drinks a large amount of alcohol daily, if she were to stop drinking she would also experience withdrawal and need medical detox.

Additionally, part of the journey to recovery for Carrie is learning how to identify what triggers her to drink, such as feelings of anxiety or fear of rejection. She will need to learn new ways of managing and regulating these feelings without alcohol. Often we are not taught how to engage with, feel and regulate our emotions. In counselling, there are practical tools we can learn to engage with emotions in a healthy way. We also work to heal and transform the painful beliefs and memories that are at the root of the addiction. 

The Social Attachment System

What is our social attachment system? It is our inborn and innate need for people. It is woven into every part of our being. We are hardwired through our social attachment system to need connection and belonging. Even before we are born and are in utero, the attachment system is already developing. From the earliest moments of life, our survival is dependent on others - without our caregivers, we would die. In the absence of connection and belonging, we experience suffering. 

Experiencing safety and connection early in life shapes our stress and attachment systems to make flourishing likely. However, when we experience chronic stress and disconnection, and we lack safety/ soothing then these systems become wired for survival instead. In either case, the outcome is not permanent or unchangeable, but these experiences set us on a trajectory that can make us more vulnerable or resilient to addiction.

This partly happens through how we learn to engage with our emotions. We are not born with the ability to manage our emotions. Experiencing co-regulation (soothing and comfort through another person) is the first step to self-regulate our emotions. As children, we are dependent on our caregivers to soothe our stress system, to provide comfort and safety, and a sense of stability and predictability. If we do not have a caregiver who can provide this then we adapt through our attachment style (closing off to others, or feeling very anxious to be connected to another person). However, addictions can function like an attachment substitute. 

Addictions provide comfort when we experience the pain of isolation or disconnection and relief from emotional distress. Through the attachment system, we are designed to find comfort and safety in the context of safe and loving relationships. However, when we are isolated, have dysfunctional relationships, or learn early in life that we can’t trust other people, we experience the pain of disconnection and are still left with the inborn need for connection. 

When we lack quality relationships in which we are meant to find comfort and safety, we must look elsewhere for security and a way to fend off the pain. This is one way that addictions form. Addictions can function like an attachment substitute. They provide safety and comfort and help us to regulate our distress.

We also find a sense of meaning and purpose in the context of relationships. God designed us to be in community- to both give and receive in relationships. Addiction is a natural response to a lack of connection to people, place, and purpose.

The Road to Recovery

In counselling, we consider the role and purpose that the addiction holds in your life. Does it help you to manage anxiety and stress, to feel ‘alive’, or to keep painful memories at bay? We also look at the ‘ecosystem’ of your life. What might facilitate addiction or contribute to building a life so fulfilling that there is no space for addiction? We also will explore some of the underlying causes of addiction. 

There is no one-size-fits-all model for recovery and the road to healing is unique for everyone. However, freedom, healing, and recovery are available to everyone. If you or someone you love needs support with addiction, please reach out to us for help. 

References

Alexander, B. K. (2008). The globalization of addiction: A study in poverty of the spirit. Oxford University Press.  

Best, D. (2019). Pathways to recovery and desistance: The role of the social contagion of hope. Policy Press.  

Bracha, H. S. (2004). Freeze, flight, fight, fright, faint: Adaptationist perspectives on the acute stress response spectrum. CNS Spectrums, 9(9), 679–685. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1092852900001954 

Corrigan, F., Fisher, J., & Nutt, D. (2010). Autonomic dysregulation and the window of tolerance model of the effects of complex emotional trauma. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881109354930 

Fisher, J. (2017a). Healing the fragmented selves of trauma survivors: Overcoming internal self-alienation. Routledge. 

Morgan, O. (2019). Addiction, attachment, trauma and recovery: The power of connection. W W Norton & Co. 
Schore, A. N. (2001). The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal, 22(1–2), 201–269.https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0355(200101/04)22:1<201::AID-IMHJ8>3.0.CO;2-9 

Understanding & Healing Trauma

If you are coming to counselling to work through trauma, you are probably wondering what the roadmap to peace is. We will talk through how we understand trauma to provide an understanding of how we will work through it in counselling. 

How we understand what trauma is will really impact how we go about trying to heal it. 

What is Trauma?

When we think of something, “traumatic”, we might think of an event or experience. When we think of trauma as an event, we think of it as something that happened in the past.

Traumatic events can include:

• Things we typically consider to be traumatic like violence, abuse, war, car accidents, near-death experiences, medical procedures that went very wrong, etc.

• Trauma also includes exposure to chronic environments, such as neglectful childhood environments, frightening or unpredictable caregivers, systemic discrimination, colonization, bullying, etc. 

Trauma from chronic environments comes from being subjected to an unsupportive or dangerous environment and then having to adapt to this environment to survive. For example, having to hide your racial and ethnic identity due to systemic racism and white normativity.

When we speak about trauma, we are referring to the impacts of certain events, experiences, or circumstances. In other words, trauma is not just something that happened, but the lasting impact on our present-day lives.

Traumatic Memory: Implicit Memory

How does trauma show up in the here-and-now? Trauma can show up in our lives in the present moment through the following:

• Intense physical sensations in our body-  ex. feeling hot, having tense muscles, etc.

• Changes in perception - ex. feeling like we are being stocked, post-traumatic paranoia, intense suspicion, etc.

• Emotional reactions - ex. intense anger, fear, rage, anxiety, shame, etc.

• Thought patterns - ex. “I am a bad person and deserve to suffer”, “I will never be able to do anything worthwhile”, etc.

• Impulses- ex. a sudden impulse to run or attack someone, urges to self-harm, etc.

• Other PTSD symptoms - Ex. dissociation, flashbacks, nightmares, etc.

Implicit memories are non-verbal memories. They are stored in the part of the brain that does not record a story about what happened, but rather how you felt. It is kind of like one part of the brain writes the song lyrics (the story-based memory), but another part makes the melody (the implicit memory). So you might be singing the Sound of Music soundtrack, but to the melody of the shark music in Jaws.. Sound familiar?

When we experience intense forms of trauma or are very overwhelmed, the part of our brain that records timelines and narratives turns off. This means that we don’t encode the type of memory that helps you to remember that you went to the store, then took the number 5 bus downtown, then saw your friend, then you made a phone call, etc. We don’t record the story of what happened to make sense of our experience.

So rather than storing memory in a story format, our brain picks up and records sensory information through our five senses, body, and emotions. These get encoded as cues that will later activate your nervous system to ramp up a defensive state and our survival responses (like fight-flight-collapse responses).

Traumatic memory might also come back in flashes of imagery but without the full memory of what happened. Smells, sounds, sights, touch, and tastes can also be very powerful cues that your body/ nervous system encodes.

Activation and Triggering

Our body and nervous system are always scanning for safety and danger. When we experience something dangerous or traumatic, our body and nervous system form associations to help us recognize signs of danger in the future.

For example, if we were hit by a red car, in the future red cars may elicit the non-verbal memories associated with that experience (like your heart racing, feelings of anxiety and panic). 

If we don’t notice that our stress response is activated, we may generally feel “bad”, stressed out, anxious or depressed and then feel confused about why. This is what we call being “activated” or “triggered”. 

When you are in a safe situation and get activated, there are ways you can learn to turn off your activated nervous system and update it with the information that you are safe, which we will work on together in counselling. It can be frustrating how activation of the stress response can interfere with our daily lives, and how our internal experience may often feel incongruent with our situation.

For example, we might be with a bunch of people we love, but feel extremely lonely and disconnected; we might be walking through a safe street in our neighbourhood, and be overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. If trauma occurred in the context of our home, family, neighbourhood or close relationships, these areas of life might be riddled with landmines and activators.

Separating the Past and Present

When traumatic memory is stored as non-verbal, feeling memories, we often don’t recognize that it is connected to a past experience that is surfacing as an implicit memory. We can wrongly assume that our present environment causing these feelings.

This might surface as thinking “they embarrassed me”, “she was attacking me”, “he was accusing and blaming me”, rather than realizing that these emotions were being activated from implicit traumatic memories. This can cause challenges in our relationships and functioning in our daily life. We might also interpret these memories as reflections on our present environment: ex. “this is not a safe place”, “I can’t trust these people”, “I am going crazy”

When we know signs of activation and trauma symptoms, it becomes easier to recognize when we are activated and to feel in control of our experience.

In counselling, our goal is to first help restore a felt sense of peace and safety and to help you find ways of managing the activation. Eventually, the chronic activation of the nervous system settles down, and there are practical ways we can support this process. Once we do this, we can work on reprocessing what happened to bring deeper resolution. 

Additionally, we offer a therapy similar to EMDR called Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). This helps to connect the implicit feeling memories that keep getting activated with the story-based memory in the other part of the brain. This reduces how much activation you experience in your daily life and restores a sense of peace. Feel free to reach out to us to book a consult and learn more.