Understanding Trauma 2

‘I’m so tired!’ Have you ever been through a difficult or traumatic experience and ended up saying something like this? Or maybe the trauma has passed and you’re in a better place, but still feeling tired. There’s a number of possible reasons:

• Emotional exhaustion 
• Physical weariness
• Your body holding onto past trauma

What?!?! Yes, your body ‘remembers’ what happened even when your brain is protecting you from BIG EMOTIONS like FEAR.  I know that sounds a bit like the Inside Out films (if you haven't seen them then you really should check them out!). But yes, the brain is a very clever part of us that will protect us from scary stuff by filing it in the deepest darkest depths of our memory filing system.  Even if we aren't aware of it, though, we have become wired to sense what is going on around us at a sub-conscious level. The brain might keep us from being conscious of what happened to us, but it fires up our nervous system to be vigilant, to watch out for anything that may be a reminder of what happened.  It keeps the stress hormones in our muscles activated even when they are no longer helpful.  So this means you could be staying on high alert PLUS have all those hormones that trigger the fight/flight/freeze response sticking around is making your muscles tired - no wonder your body feels tired!  

So what can we do about it? We want to tell our brain AND our body to stand down - it's safe again:

• Give ourselves time and space to feel the feelings and process the emotions - self-care after times of trauma is essential.  This will probably include talking to someone honestly about it - counsellors are great for this because we don't need to protect them from what we have found difficult in the same way as we want to protect our friends and family from the big stuff.
• Let our bodies sleep when they need to - sleep can give our bodies and brains time to heal. That might sound simplistic as it could be difficult to sleep after trauma when our brains are spinning out and processing our experiences. Talking it out may help, or work with a counsellor to find a way of moving on from any recurring sleep difficulties if they persist.
• Stretches and exercising can help our nervous system to get back onto an even keel.  But if you are still feeling tense/ wired/ tired, consider seeking out a counsellor who works somatically (yes, I use somatic experiencing in my client work if you want to find out more).

Of course, it's never quite as straight forward as this because we are naturally complex human beings who are affected by so many things. But it may give you some food for thought.  And PLEASE always check out persistent tiredness with your doctor as other stuff could be going on in your body that requires help. 
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