By Thomas Rutledge, Photo: Thomas Rutledge, Psychology Today, November 20, 2022
Traumas constitute the most difficult experiences in life. Assaults, severe accidents and injuries, natural disasters, life threatening diseases, and the loss of loved ones comprise just some of the most frequent types of traumas. Tragically, traumatic events are also common, with at least half of adults experiencing one or more major traumas according to the best survey research.
Although the mental health consequences of trauma and posttraumatic stress are the subject of many movies well-known in U.S. culture (e.g., Born on the 4th of July, Fearless, Manchester by the Sea, Rambo: First Blood, etc.,), the physical health consequences of trauma receive far less attention. Based the latest trauma science, however, ignoring these physical consequences of trauma and PTSD represents a grave error with potentially deadly consequences.
Trauma is a mind-body condition, not a mental condition
The official - and oversimplified - narrative about trauma and post-traumatic stress is that they represent intense emotional and behavioral responses to life-threatening events. Acute stress disorder and PTSD in the DSM-5 (the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals), for example, are diagnosed entirely by emotional and behavioral symptoms such as hypervigilance, anxiety, insomnia, and avoidance of trauma-related situations and stimuli. Yet the rapidly evolving neuroscience on trauma demonstrates unequivocally that the underlying pathophysiology of trauma inside the body is equally profound and potentially even more harmful (3). And among the areas of the body most rapidly and severely affected by trauma is the heart.
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