While we are naturally well equipped to manage stress and difficult or even threatening situations, certain events can overwhelm us to the point that we lack the ability to manage them effectively. Often such events can be traced back to early childhood experiences, such as parental emotional absence or neglect, which impede our basic needs for security and relational connection. Growing up in toxic environments characterized by emotional violence, excluison or abuse further weakens our resilience, particularly if these experiences are recurrent over an extended period.

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As a result, our nervous system can become disrupted, falling out of its harmonious oscillation between states of relaxation and activation, especially in the absence of reassuring support. 

Traumatic events, whether isolated incidents (e.g. an accident, an illness, the loss of a loved one, etc.) or ongoing experiences, can have profound emotional and psychological effects, sometimes triggering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recurring trauma can lead to persistent feelings of insecurity, instability, helplessness, and abandonment. 

The impact of trauma lies not in the event itself, but in the repercussions resulting from insufficient treatment, leading to intense and dysfunctional reactions. Our nervous system, being trapped in a state of dynamic imbalance, may oscillate easily between overstimulation with reactions of fight or flight, and understimulation with reactions of dissociation and disconnection. 

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Moreover, individuals may experience destabilising sensations of stress without necessarily connecting it to prior traumatic events. Each person reacts uniquely to trauma, with a significant event potentially leading to persistent PTSD in one person while leaving another unaffected, the underlying reasons for this difference remain currently unclear. 

The consequences affect various aspects of life, including well-being, personal fulfilment, relationships with oneself and others, as well as mental and physical health.

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The symptoms associated with PTSD can be roughly categorised into four groups:

1. Intrusion symptoms: the traumatic event is intruding repeatedly and uncontrolled into our thoughts, revealing as involuntary memories or recurring nightmares. Some individuals may even experience flashbacks, reliving the event as if it were happening again.

2. Avoidance behaviours: Individuals may exhibit behaviours aimed at avoiding anything that reminds them of the traumatic event, including activities, situations, people, or thoughts, feelings, and conversations related to the event.

3. Negative effects on thoughts and mood: This includes dissociative amnesia (inability to recall significant parts of the traumatic event), emotional numbness, feeling disconnected from others, and distorted perceptions of the event leading to feelings of guilt or blaming others for what happened.

4. Altered alertness and reactions: Symptoms may include sleep and concentration problems, heightened alertness to potential risks, bursts of fear, and loss of control over reactions, resulting in outbursts of anger and impulsive behaviour.

 

The good news is that restoring a healthy balance to the nervous system is possible with empathic support and co-regulation at any time, allowing you to regain security and relational connection in the here and now.