3 Surprising Symptoms rooted in Trauma

3 Surprising Symptoms from Trauma

There are many symptoms of trauma, but there are 3 that I got really surprised at when I learned more about trauma and how it can have a negative impact on our lives.  As there are a lot of symptoms that are obvious, these three are not and maybe not ones you have even considered.

Chronic physical symptoms is the first one.  Trauma can leave a big impact physically on our bodies.  Many people live a long life with chronic pain, inflammation, gut issues, autoimmune conditions and many other unexplainable symptoms.  Trauma lives in the body and unless we can get into the body and process it out then it can lead to unexplainable health issues.  I hear over and over from my clients that they have spent most of their lives in Dr’s offices with sometimes horrific symptoms just to be told to go home and that everything is fine.  Which just ends up further traumatizing them. 

The second symptom is not being able to form relationships which could be romantic, friendships or relationships at work.  Trauma causes us to trust no one and the waiting for someone to do something bad to us.  It strips away our ability to set boundaries with others so we can have our emotional needs met because we are so scared that if we ask for what we need, we will rock the boat and get left behind.  Because we often don’t stand up for ourselves this leaves the door open to welcome in abusive relationships.

The third is feeling like we need to be perfect all the time.  This is a way for a trauma survivor to take back control and also earn someone’s approval.  If we did things better, we would be accepted and people would like us.  Because we didn’t get the love, attention, guidance and nurturance that we needed as children from our caretakers, we are forever looking outside ourselves for self- approval, acceptance and love.  This can and often leads to self-criticism and the inner critic is born – you aren’t enough, you aren’t smart enough, you should look like her/him, you need to be smarter, prettier, if only you were different you would be accepted and get what you need.  The big problem with that is if we can’t accept ourselves how is anyone else supposed to?

All these symptoms are inviting us to get curious and shed some kindness and compassion towards our parts that need our love and support.  Together we can shine the light on the not so obvious and obvious symptoms from trauma that are robbing us of being happy and strive towards full acceptance of all these parts just wanting our attention. 

If you would like support in shining some light on these parts of you that you are finding challenging to live with and might be holding you back, please reach out and we can have a chat about them!  All parts are welcome!  Here is my schedule to book in for a call!