If you have been through something traumatic and your body has not felt the same since, you are not imagining it. Headaches. Stomach trouble. A heart that races at odd moments. Muscles that never quite let go. These are some of the most common experiences people describe to us.
Trauma is what results when an event, a series of events, or a set of circumstances is experienced as harmful or life-threatening and has lasting effects on how a person functions. The important part of that definition is that it turns on your experience of what happened, not on a checklist of qualifying events.
We put this guide together to walk through what researchers have actually found about trauma and physical health, where the popular phrases run ahead of the evidence, and what tends to help.
What Is Trauma?
That definition is sometimes broken into three parts. The event. Your experience of it. The effects that follow. Two people can go through the same thing and come out of it differently, and neither of them is doing it wrong.
Trauma also has no boundaries regarding age, gender, income, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. It is a common experience in American communities.
It helps to separate trauma from PTSD. PTSD is a specific diagnosis that can develop after a shocking, dangerous event, one where you believed your life or someone else’s was at risk. Trauma is broader than that. You can be affected by trauma without meeting criteria for PTSD, and the physical effects do not wait for a diagnosis.
Why Does Trauma Show Up in the Body?
The stress response
When you face a threat, your body does exactly what it evolved to do. Your heart rate climbs, your muscles tense, your breathing goes shallow, and your attention narrows to the thing in front of you. This is useful. It is built to get you through the next few minutes.
The trouble starts when the response does not switch back off. With ongoing stress, those same life-saving reactions can affect your sleep and your immune, digestive, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. Some people mainly get digestive symptoms. Others get headaches, body pain, high blood pressure, or lost sleep.
Wear and tear over time
Researchers use allostatic load to describe the cumulative wear and tear that continued stress puts on the body. It is not a metaphor. PTSD has been linked to measurable changes such as low-grade inflammation and accelerated cellular aging.
In children, toxic stress from adverse experiences can affect brain development, the immune system, and the body’s stress-response systems, and those effects can carry forward into adulthood.
What Does “Trauma Is Stored in the Body” Actually Mean?
You have almost certainly run into this phrase. It is a useful shorthand and it points at something real. The research, though, describes mechanisms rather than storage.
There is no evidence that emotions get literally trapped in tissue. What the evidence does show is that trauma and PTSD reach the body through several pathways at once. Health-risk behaviors such as smoking and substance use play a part. So does depression, which frequently accompanies PTSD. So do biological changes such as inflammation and metabolic syndrome. Trauma can also reduce how much people engage in preventive health behaviors, including physical activity, healthy eating, and medical screenings.
That is a less tidy story than “stored in the body,” and it is a more workable one. Every pathway on that list is something you and a care team can actually do something about.
What Physical Health Problems Are Linked to Trauma?
Researchers have looked hard at this question. The findings are stronger for some conditions than for others, and we would rather show you both.
- Cardiovascular disease. A meta-analysis of 20 studies found that people with PTSD had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke.
- Diabetes. A meta-analysis of 9 studies found that people with PTSD had a 50% greater risk of diabetes than people without PTSD.
- Chronic pain. People living with chronic pain have elevated rates of PTSD, and having both tends to make each one harder to manage.
- Metabolic syndrome. A review of 9 studies connected PTSD and metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors involving blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.
- Autoimmune conditions. The evidence here is thinner than you may have read. One meta-analysis found a small but meaningful increase in risk.
- Digestive problems. Findings have been mixed. One large population study found PTSD was associated with overall risk for GI disorders, with the risk varying quite a bit by specific diagnosis.
- Cancer. This one runs against expectations. The existing research does not support a strong association between PTSD and cancer risk.
Two things are true at once here. These are associations found across large groups, not predictions about any one person. And the fact that they show up in the data is exactly why telling your doctor about a trauma history is a reasonable thing to do.
How Common Is Trauma?
About 70% of people worldwide will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. Most of them will not develop PTSD.
In the United States, about 6% of adults will have PTSD at some point in their lives. It is more common in women (roughly 8%) than in men (roughly 4%), partly because of the types of traumatic events women are more likely to experience.
Difficult experiences in childhood are common too. CDC data show that three in four high school students reported at least one adverse childhood experience, and one in five reported four or more.
Does Treating Trauma Help the Body?
This is the question we most want a clean answer to. The research is still developing, and what exists so far is encouraging.
Several studies have found improvements in self-reported health symptoms after trauma-focused treatment. A large study of VA medical records found that PTSD treatment reduced the risk of hypertension. Another found that people whose PTSD symptoms dropped meaningfully were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
The results are not uniform, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Some large studies did not find that PTSD improvement changed cardiovascular outcomes. And once physical health has been damaged, reducing PTSD alone may not reverse it. That is an argument for addressing trauma sooner rather than an argument that it is ever too late.
What Types of Therapy Help With Trauma?
Several trauma-focused therapies are strongly recommended for PTSD. Trauma-focused means the therapy works directly with your memory of the event and what it means to you. Most of them last about three months.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Teaches you to change the upsetting thoughts and feelings you have carried since the trauma.
- Prolonged Exposure (PE). Teaches you to gradually approach the memories, feelings, and situations you have been avoiding.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Helps you process the memory while paying attention to a back-and-forth movement or sound.
- Written Exposure Therapy (WET). A brief five-session therapy built around writing assignments you complete during sessions.
- Present-Centered Therapy (PCT). A non-trauma-focused option that concentrates on dealing with current life problems related to your trauma or symptoms.
No one treatment is right for everyone, and you get a say in which one you try. What matters more than finding the theoretically perfect option is starting one and staying with it long enough to see what it does.
How Do I Find a Trauma Therapist?
Ask directly whether a therapist is trained in a trauma-focused therapy, and which one. That question is normal, and a good therapist will not be put off by it.
There are several routes worth trying. Your doctor can refer you. Your insurance company can tell you who is in network. Community mental health centers often have sliding-scale options. Free tools such as Mental Health Match can narrow the field for you. We created Mental Health Match to make this part easier, and it is free to use. You answer a few questions about what you are looking for, and we introduce you to therapists who fit.
Fit is not a soft consideration. A strong working relationship with your therapist is one of the most consistent predictors of whether therapy helps, and in trauma work that trust carries a lot of the weight.
When Should I Talk to Someone?
It is typical to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after a traumatic event, and most people start to feel better after a few weeks. Consider reaching out if you notice any of the following.
- Symptoms have lasted longer than a month
- They are causing you real distress
- They are getting in the way of work, school, or home life
- You are avoiding more and more to keep from being reminded
- You are drinking or using substances to manage
- Physical symptoms keep showing up and your doctor has ruled out other causes
If any of that feels familiar, reaching out to a therapist is a good next step. PTSD symptoms can start later or come and go over the years, so a long gap between the event and the symptoms does not mean the two are unrelated.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always talk to a qualified healthcare professional about any medical concerns. If you are in crisis, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
