A feeling of shame; an innate feeling that they are bad, worthless, or without importance. Suffering from chronic or ongoing depression. Practicing avoidance of people, places, or things that may be related to the traumatic event; this also can include an avoidance of unpleasant emotions.
The impact of unprocessed trauma will often result in unfamiliar mental and physical difficulties. After experiencing an overwhelming amount of stress, many of us will tend to use avoidance in the hope of overcoming the trauma which has taken place.
Intense Fear or Hypervigilance:
Sometimes people experience unexplained fears. This can include people or places. This often results in hypervigilance and a constant feeling of being on guard. Both fear and hypervigilance are clear indicators of unprocessed trauma.
Unprocessed trauma is trauma that continues to disrupt months or years after the originating event or events. Unprocessed trauma interferes with a sense of safety, relationships, and physiological responses to stress.
Unresolved trauma puts people at increased risk for mental health diagnoses, which run the gamut of anxiety, depression and PTSD. There are physical manifestations as well, such as cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure, stroke or heart attacks.
If you often feel as though your life has become unmanageable, this could be a sign that you have some unresolved emotional trauma. Emotional overreactions are a common symptom of trauma. A victim of trauma might redirect their overwhelming emotions towards others, such as family and friends.
The symptoms of unresolved trauma may include, among many others, addictive behaviors, an inability to deal with conflict, anxiety, confusion, depression or an innate belief that we have no value.
The energy of the trauma is stored in our bodies' tissues (primarily muscles and fascia) until it can be released. This stored trauma typically leads to pain and progressively erodes a body's health. Emotions are the vehicles the body relies on to find balance after a trauma.
Symptoms of Unresolved Trauma
Hypervigilance and inability to let one's guard down5. Lack of trust and difficulty opening up to other people6. Dissociation and a persistent feeling of numbness7. Control issues, to overcompensate for feeling helpless during the traumatic incident8.
Trauma Looks—And Feels—Different For Everyone
It's less commonly understood, however, that our bodies can hold unprocessed and unintegrated trauma. This leads to painful physical symptoms and even long-term disease.
Trauma denial is a way to put distance between you and an overwhelming experience. It can be one of the many ways your brain tries to adapt and mitigate a reality collapse or a system overload, which can often happen after a traumatic event.
Buttocks = Anger and Rage
Anger and suppressed rage are often stored in the buttocks.
The neck is one of the most common places to store emotion, with tension and tightness arising from fear, anxiety, grief, anger, and other strong emotional experiences. Neck tension can also be associated with trust issues, feelings of insecurity, and weak willpower.
The amygdala is responsible for the fight, flight or freeze response that can get stuck when people experience trauma. And the insula is responsible for our ability to control our emotional responses and immune system. People who are traumatised are frequently highly anxious or 'hyperaroused'.
According to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) about 8 million Americans are effected with trauma, and go on to develop PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). Children are often more commonly diagnosed with such disorders as: ADHD, oppositional Defiant disorder, or adjustment disorders.
Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect. Most responses are normal in that they affect most survivors and are socially acceptable, psychologically effective, and self-limited.
Stressors and past trauma can often trigger patterns of overthinking as well. When these thought cycles start spiraling, it is oftentimes hard to break free from and move past them.
Adults who have experienced childhood trauma often have heightened anxiety levels. They may worry excessively and have trouble managing their anxiety. Childhood trauma can lead to persistent feelings of sadness, lack of interest in activities, and difficulty experiencing pleasure.
What is Trauma blocking? Trauma blocking is an effort to block out and overwhelm residual painful feelings due to trauma. You may ask “What does trauma blocking behavior look like? · Trauma blocking is excessive use of social media and compulsive mindless scrolling.