Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Your Autonomic Nervous System
The human body’s response to trauma is complex and far-reaching, impacting both the mind and body in profound ways. Trauma isn’t just a psychological event—it lives in the body, often manifesting as chronic pain, digestive issues, or long-term health conditions like autoimmune disorders. It can also disrupt your sense of identity, make it difficult to recognize yourself, and create a persistent feeling of disconnection from your body and emotions. Unresolved trauma often shows up in relationships, leading to recurring patterns of dysfunction, and may fuel maladaptive coping strategies such as eating disorders, substance use, or other compulsive behaviors. Understanding the full impact of trauma is essential—not only to build compassion for your experience, but also to guide the process of tending to and healing the mind-body system as a whole.
The Autonomic Nervous System
Learning about the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is an important first step in understanding how the body is impacted by trauma. The ANS is in charge of regulating our organs and involuntary bodily functions including heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, digestive flow, body temperature, bladder control, and more. The ANS constantly interprets cues in our environment to subconsciously let us know if we are safe or in danger. If it determines we are safe, the body functions as it should. If it detects danger, our body shifts to preserve and survive.
There are two branches of the autonomic nervous system that shift between one another depending on it’s interpretation of safety versus danger. These branches work together to maintain homeostasis in the body, to keep us healthy. The ability to shift between the two states is a sign of a healthy nervous system. The two branches are:
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) The SNS is responsible for the "fight or flight" response, activating during times of stress or danger. If the ANS detects danger, it shifts to the SNS state to preserve energy needed to survive. When the SNS is activated our digestion slows down, our mental energy focuses on surviving and managing the threat, our heart rate increases, and adrenaline courses through our body. This is a state of hypervigilance, anxiety, and can produce seemingly “out of control” reactions like snapping and raging or shutting down and freezing.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). The PNS promotes the "rest and digest" state, helping the body relax and recover. In this state are organs are functioning as they should.
More on the ANS in this blog post.
Trauma’s Impact on the Nervous System
When trauma occurs, the body can become stuck in a chronic state of sympathetic activation—our fight-or-flight response—which can have significant long-term effects on physical health. Many people find themselves cycling between states of hyperarousal (anxiety, panic, agitation) and hypoarousal (depression, dissociation, numbness), making it difficult for the nervous system to return to a regulated “rest and digest” state. This ongoing dysregulation can contribute to a wide range of physical symptoms, including digestive problems, a persistently elevated heart rate, bladder dysfunction, difficulty regulating body temperature, and even the development of autoimmune conditions. Our bodies are not designed to live in constant survival mode, and over time, this chronic stress takes a serious toll on overall well-being.
The Impact of Trauma on Relationships
Trauma's influence also extends to social relationships, as individuals may find it challenging to connect due to ANS dysregulation. The altered PNS response can hinder one's ability to feel safe leading to isolation and loneliness. A nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight may lead to irritability, defensiveness, or emotional reactivity, while a freeze or shutdown state can cause withdrawal, numbness, or disconnection. With a Traumatized ANS, your body detects threat when there is no actual threat- making it hard to trust others or have difficulty staying present during conflict or intimacy. These patterns aren’t conscious choices—they’re the body’s survival responses—but they can create misunderstandings, conflict, or emotional distance in relationships.
Trauma Leading to Maladaptive Coping Methods
Chronic nervous system dysregulation can make daily life feel overwhelming, exhausting, or emotionally difficult. In an effort to manage these intense internal states, individuals may turn to substances, disordered eating, self-harm, compulsive behaviors, or other dysfunctional coping mechanisms to soothe, escape, numb out, or feel something different. These strategies often provide temporary relief but can create long-term harm and reinforce the cycle of dysregulation. Without tools to restore balance to the nervous system, the drive to self-medicate becomes more deeply rooted, making it harder to break free from patterns that ultimately perpetuate suffering.
In Summary
The long-term impact of trauma can manifest in various ways, including:
Physical Health Issues: The persistent activation of the sympathetic nervous system can lead to chronic health problems, including cardiovascular issues, digestive disorders, and weakened immune responses.
Mental Health Disorders: Dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system is closely linked to mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, and depression. Trauma survivors might struggle with emotional regulation, experiencing mood swings and emotional reactivity.
Somatic Symptoms: Unresolved trauma can manifest as physical symptoms, often referred to as somatic symptoms. These may include chronic pain, fatigue, and unexplained physical discomfort.
Dysfunctional Relationships: Unresolved trauma can lead to chronic patterns of dysfunctional relationships, as unhealed wounds often shape how we perceive others, respond to conflict, and regulate emotional closeness or distance.
Healing and Recovery
Recognizing the impact of trauma on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a vital step in the healing process. Trauma-informed therapy and self-care practices can help regulate the nervous system and reduce the long-term physical and emotional effects of trauma. Interventions like EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and the Safe and Sound Protocol are considered bottom-up approaches, meaning they begin with the body—helping the nervous system learn to feel safe and grounded before engaging in deeper emotional or cognitive work. These methods support the body in rewiring its responses to stress and restoring a sense of internal safety.
In addition to formal therapies, practices such as mindfulness, deep breathing, gentle movement, and progressive muscle relaxation can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting rest, digestion, and recovery. Over time, these practices help the ANS relearn how to accurately read cues of safety and danger, rather than remaining stuck in survival mode.
In contrast, top-down approaches—such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)—focus on the brain’s cognitive processes: thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. While these approaches are powerful tools, they often rely on a certain level of nervous system regulation to be effective. When someone is in a highly dysregulated state, these methods can feel frustrating or inaccessible and may even increase shame or self-judgment if they don't seem to "work."
As Dr. Stephen Porges, founder of Polyvagal Theory, reminds us: “You can’t think your way to safety.” Healing often begins by addressing the body’s survival responses first. By starting with bottom-up approaches, we create a foundation of safety and regulation that makes top-down strategies more accessible and effective over time.
Conclusion
With the right support, therapy, and self-care strategies, you can work toward regulating your autonomic responses, promote healing, and enhance your overall quality of life.
Reach out today to learn how Brighter Minds Therapy can help you learn to regulate your autonomic nervous system and lead you to feel safer in everyday life.
Check out this free handout on Nervous System Regulating Exercises to support your healing journey!
