Trauma can be described as a disorder of the nervous system. Hyperactivating the sympathetic nervous system, trauma constantly creates strong reactions to triggers of anxiety and fear, which manifests differently for each individual person. What is trauma to one person may not be trauma to the next. Likewise, what triggers PTSD and symptoms of trauma in one person may not trigger PTSD and symptoms of trauma in another.
Breakdowns as a result of untreated PTSD follow a universal formula. There is a single or series of life events which are trauma, followed by years of coping and surviving, culminating in a single or series of triggers which activates the impaired sympathetic nervous system of PTSD. For some the culminating event is loud, obvious, and unavoidable. For others, it may take nothing more than the changing direction of the breeze to send all the fragile domino pieces of their life toppling down.
The sympathetic nervous system interacts with many areas of the brain. Most notably for survivors of trauma, the sympathetic nervous system helps regulate the functions of the amygdala. Fear is managed by the amygdala, in part through the “fight, flight, or freeze” response to what is considered threats to survival. When someone is triggered in their trauma, what they experience is more than fear. What they experience feels like a direct threat to their continued survival as the amygdala is essentially hijacked by trauma. Individuals are left feeling inconsolably isolated, terrified, and as if they had been left out as vulnerable prey to the ever shape-shifting predator of their trauma.
At the apex moment of a breakdown, the fear is too much to handle. Like a levee holding back as much water as it possibly can, it starts with a strain, followed by the smallest spring of a leak. Just as tons of water create more pressure than a single leak can bear, trauma acts much in the same way. An already broken system which has done its best to hold back the effects of trauma simply cannot function anymore. There is a breakdown in mind, in body, and in spirit. Everything can feel like it is falling apart as the nervous system tries to compensate and control what is happening.
What seems and feels like a breakdown is often just the first stage of a breakthrough. Water cannot get through the levee until the levee is broken. Of course, a levee is meant to keep the water back, but your brain isn’t meant to hold onto so much pain, suffering, and anguish. The momentum of a breakdown can be immensely powerful and carry you through trauma treatment and trauma recovery to the breakthrough of a lifetime.
The Guest House Ocala specializes in the treatment of trauma, addictions, and related mental health issues like anxiety. Everyone has a story. If you are living with unmanageable anxiety as a result of trauma it is critical for you to know, you are not alone. Help is available. You can and you will recover. Call us today for information on our custom plans of treatment and our private luxury care: 1-855-483-7800