If emotional trauma causes physical illness, how do you prevent illness?

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I have read quite a lot about how emotional trauma can be stored in the body and come out in physical illnesses. I'm convinced. But from my reading it isn't clear exactly how to stop past trauma making you ill?

I have had a lot of trauma in my life. Had two years of talking therapy which really helped, CBT which did nothing and anti-depressants that I had to stop due to medical conditions. I'm still affected every day, with PTSD symptoms.

I have been having a lot of random physical illnesses and thinking that these are all caused by the trauma/stress.

But what can I do about it?

I don’t think it’s such a simple connection. When I have a stressful situation emotionally I don’t eat regularly and healthily, I can’t sleep, I sometimes drink alcohol and I drink much more black tea then usual so usually I end up with cystitis, viral cold, constipation, digestive issues and my back problem becomes worse. if I’m having it often my digestive problem becomes a much more serious digestive problem. So basically my self care is affected and I’m making wrong choices in life and that leads to physical illnesses.

I agree that this is not such a simple cause and effect - lots of people with trauma are never ill, and lots of people without any trauma in their lives are ill a lot. If there was a simple correlation, it would be clear and obvious, and it is not

You keep healthy the same as anyone else - maintain a healthy weight, eat sensibly, exercise etc

You might want to look at journalspeak with Nicole Sachs. She has a website, Facebook group, podcast etc. You can access lots of resources for free, but of course you can pay to get more (and it is quite expensive). She is all about the mind-body connection.

Personally l do believe trauma can cause illness (not a medical professional) and we all have to find out what works for each of us to deal with it.

What foods are good and bad. A poor diet can cause mood swings.
What type of exercise makes us feel good and energised. (Yoga works wonders for me.)
What type of lifestyle suits us. Introvert/extrovert.
What lifestyle factors/ jobs energise or drain us etc.
At the end of the day our MH and health are our own responsibility

I think that one of the biggest issues is women not taking time to prioritise themselves (I am very guilty of this) putting partners, DCs and elderly parents all before ourselves.
Keep trying things op.

I have the same trouble and it's catching up with me as I'm getting older. I have to work very hard on my own maintenance. I am hugely grateful that DH understands and is willing to support me working very part time despite our empty nest. I spend my spare time walking, reading, exercising etc, so that I am capable of maintaining our home/garden/relationship with his support.

I tried working full time and it nearly broke me so I am very lucky to have the life that I do. We try to eat well and socialise gently too. And time with our family.

I swear that the modern lifestyle has evolved a lot more quickly than our ability to cope with it has, so a lot of us are struggling to cope with traumas (and I'm also aware that in many, many ways life is better) But our brains are still wired to worry about being abandoned and left to the wolves!

Agree with all of this.

I think journaling and getting your feelings out can really help too. Also cycle syncing (depending on your age) ie adjusting diet and activity level to suit the phase of your cycle.

I think the best thing I have ever done for myself in terms of mental and physical health is giving up alcohol. Initially my mental was worse because I'd been self medicating for so long but after a while I was forced to confront and process my emotions properly.

I swear that the modern lifestyle has evolved a lot more quickly than our ability to cope with it has, so a lot of us are struggling to cope with traumas (and I'm also aware that in many, many ways life is better) But our brains are still wired to worry about being abandoned and left to the wolves!

I agree with this also. I know we are very lucky today in that most of us aren't deprived of food, shelter etc but I think our brains are not wired to cope with modern life - especially social media. I think our brains are completely overwhelmed. Taking social media breaks a couple of times a year is a must for me.

My 34 year old healthy friend suddenly developed Pancreatic cancer after an extremely stressful time. He was from a medical background and absolutely convinced the stress triggered it. He's dead now 😔 I thought he was bonkers at the time for thinking this, but looking back and reading much more about it, it would appear there may be a link. We all go through stress and we don't all get ill, but all we can do is try to eliminate stress as much as possible, although I understand that's not always possible. My husband died young in a tragic accident and it was off the scale stress for me obviously, but 18 years later I'm still OK so maybe it just triggers differently in different people.

Lots of bullshit in this thread. It absolutely is a proven scientific connection. People are saying it's not a simple cause and effect because otherwise every person with trauma would get sick. That's as wrong as saying that sugar doesn't cause diabetes because not everyone who eats it becomes diabetic. We know for a fact sugar does cause diabetes if the person's system is overloaded with it for long enough.

Read The Body Keeps The Score and go and educate yourselves for god's sake. This is why we have a mental health crisis in this country, people want to pretend that trauma is a mental illness rather than a physical one.

To answer the OP, there are some things you can do to reduce the effect of trauma on the body but some will unfortunately already be baked in. Listen to Michael Mosley's Just One Thing series on BBC Sounds, it has lots of small and easy steps you can take to improve your stress levels and overall health.

Actually OP you might be interested in this - I watch a YouTuber called Elicia Goguen. She has a main YouTube channel and one for her podcast - The Glow Up Secrets. One of her podcast episodes was about the mind/body connection as she had lots of health problems when she was younger. She had bowel problems and chronic pain in one of her hands. It gave me some hope that maybe one day my stomach problems will be better. You might want to check it out.

You work to heal the emotional scars. Trauma isn't the bad thing that happens. It's the emotional impact of it that causes emotional pain and through complex pathways, physical illness. You can't change the bad thing that happened, but you can change how it impacts you and heal those scars.

Now that doesn't mean that illness will go away or be prevented from happening, it's not that simple. But it can improve health (and just make you feel a lot better). I have a GI issue that I personally believe is trauma related, based on the onset and the times when it flares up. It's an incurable condition and it will never go away and I'll never not have to take medication daily for it. But dealing with my trauma and working on healing myself emotionally, has made a massive difference in how well I feel and my day-to-day life/symptoms.

Cbt is a top down approach, trauma is better addressed with a bottom up approach. Find what helps you feel safe and peaceful. Glimmers somatic tools etc. Trauma absolutely affects physical health ❤

There is definitely a link. I agree with reading The Body Keeps The Score. The curable App has some useful information. Journaling as mentioned above can be useful as can meditating, breathing work etc.

I know two women who developed cancer within a couple of years of losing a child. Both thought the trauma they experienced contributed to their cancer. It’s an interesting topic.

I think there is a huge link and agree with pp's sugar analogy too.

I do think one thing to be very wary of is adding this to your list of things to worry about! I am going through enormous trauma at the moment and am working hard to both heal and release. Sitting thinking 'my DB died of cancer and I am in trauma and the body keeps the score, therefore I'm probably going to get cancer' isn't helpful to me and is likely to increase my chances of physical illness.

It's far more helpful to me to actively yet gently release those thoughts and not do too much strategising about future-proofing, if that makes sense.

Also, Gabor Mate, 'When the body says no' is a good one on this subject. These may be challenging to read but I found them helpful. I developed a physical illness when I was a child during a time of high emotional stress for my family, I think it is linked. I am learning to process emotion now but it does not come naturally to me. As yet I still have the illness and perhaps I always will but I am experimenting with things that may alleviate it.

Now that doesn't mean that illness will go away or be prevented from happening, it's not that simple.

I agree. Somatic tools and trauma healing can be liberating and empowering. But I feel also feel this can turn into yet another stick to beat people with / dismissed health concerns:

it's your fault that you are ill

If you worked on your attitude / personality / you tried harder / you pulled yourself together it would all go away

It's functional

It's all in your head, dear

Etc.

Yes I 100 % agree with this. That is just adding additional anxiety so different methods must be used. I do artwork to try and process and also walk, and listen to podcasts about allowing things to come up and then pass on through.

Yes I've read the body keeps the score. I will look at the podcasts etc suggested but can anyone give any advice from these that actually works?

I have worked through stuff with a counselor but unfortunately a lot of my trauma gets repeated (health issues mainly) so it's like I am constantly being triggered (sorry hate that word but don't know how else to describe it).

I feel like I'm in a vicious cycle as I am stressed/traumatised, get a health issue, get more stressed/traumatised, get another health issue etc. There's no let up.

I also got cancer after a year of extreme stress and wonder if that is the reason. I have had genetic testing, eat healthily, exercise, sleep well etc and do what I can to be healthy. I'm just convinced that I am in a vicious cycle of stress/health issue/more stress and don't know how to get out of it.

Ima bit surprised that you're saying there's bullshit on this thread. I think most of us are agreeing that the body does indeed keep the score (I too have read the book) I also listen and frequently recommend Michael Moseley's podcast. I was sharing the things that help my mental well being and I thought the other posters were too.

Are you seeing a counsellor or a proper psychotherapist? It sounds like you are looking after your physical health so a trauma specialist would be good. It's hard, I know 💐 I feel I'm managing my mental and physical health rather than finding a cure.

I would describe it as using my body gently now, as it isn’t as resilient as it used to be.

Think of holding an internal bucket of stress. If you rush about Willy nilly, the stress will leak out everywhere and cause a mess. If you live gently, it will sit more stably.

When you do yoga, colouring, dance, listen to music, go to church/evensong etc, you drain a little stress out of your bucket giving you a little leeway for day to day life.

Your job is to prioritise making daily life as gentle as possible, and build in as much stress relief as you can manage, so you develop a better more manageable and practical level in your stress bucket.

you are proving my point exactly - there is a clear correlation between obesity and diabetes 2. There is no correlation between trauma and physical illness. None. Quite the reverse in some ways!

There is a correlation between long term stress a subpar function in the immune system, which is observable, measurable and explainable.

I think you are confusing the two!

Thanks, that's some helpful practical advice. I try to do this but my stress levels are still high.

I'm not currently seeing a therapist. Honestly, I feel like I've talked it all through so much I'm not sure there's much more to say. I did try some telephone counselling through work recently but it was awful.

@fattytum have you heard of ACE scores (adverse childhood experiences ie traumas) and their correlation with a whole host of physical and mental illnesses?