The body and trauma: the impacts of sexual violence on the body and brain and the importance of trauma-informed support
We all respond, react, and heal in unique ways. There is no right way. Be kind to yourself, be kind to those around you who have experienced trauma, we are all doing our best.
How the body and brain react to trauma
Sexual violence is something that no person should ever have to experience and can create long lasting impacts for those that do. Understanding how the body and brain react to sexual assault is vital to supporting survivors in ways that are responsive and trauma informed.
People respond to stressful and dangerous situations, including sexual violence, in a variety of ways. These include biologically wired responses such as fight, flight, freeze, fawn, disassociate, etc., which are each designed in different ways to protect us from danger and harm (Van der Kolk, 2014). When these natural responses to high stress or danger are blocked (i.e., someone is prevented by the circumstances of the trauma from taking action that helps them to get out of the stressful or dangerous situation), the brain continues to secrete stress chemicals and the body’s trauma response lingers on long after the actual event has passed (Van der Kolk, 2014).
During a traumatic event such as a sexual assault, the fear circuitry in our brains takes over and replaces our prefrontal cortex’s normal decision-making processes with instinctual, survival-based reflexes. This means that people who experience a traumatic event such as sexual assault may not respond in ways that they would under other circumstances, or in the ways that they expect. (i.e., being unable to move, disassociating, going into “autopilot”, etc.) (Hopper, 2016). Many folks who do not fully understand sexual violence and the way it impacts the people who experience it struggle to comprehend why, during a traumatic event, someone didn’t “fight back,” or “run away.” This misunderstanding can lead to victim blaming, which harms the survivor and continues to enable the perpetuation of sexual violence. When we begin to learn more about how the brain responds to trauma, this can help us understand why many survivors do not react the way they would have anticipated during a traumatic event.
Traumatic experiences also impact how the brain encodes memories of the traumatic event. The brain may hyper focus on some elements of an event and encode them with explicit detail while simultaneously bypassing other details which may be encoded poorly or not at all (Hopper, 2016). This can make recalling traumatic events difficult, which does not indicate a lack of credibility, but simply a neurological tendency meant to help a person survive and minimize harm when the brain is under extreme stress (Hopper, 2016).
Trauma changes the nervous system in ways that can be extensive. A person’s brain and body may continue to operate as if the trauma were still going on, continuously secreting hormones and firing brain synapses associated with the fight/fight/freeze response, keeping the body in a continuous state of stress (Van der Kolk, 2014). It takes a lot of energy to maintain control over the psychological and physiological reactions to this state of ongoing heightened neurobiological distress, and the brain and body’s attempts to control this distress can result in a range of physical and psychological symptoms such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, other autoimmune diseases, anxiety, depression, etc. (Van der Kolk, 2014).
The many ways people heal
This does not mean that experiencing trauma is a life sentence of difficulty and suffering. While healing from trauma does not undo what has been experienced, there are many paths of healing as an ongoing process that can be taken. Healing trauma is not linear or one size fits all, and finding ways to heal the body, mind, and spirit/self is a unique and deeply personal process.
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Supporting someone’s healing process begins with a kind, non-judgmental, compassionate response to someone’s expressions of their trauma. There is no right way to respond and heal, and we each go about it in unique ways. Many responses and reactions to an event such as sexual assault are attempts to cope with the ongoing physiological and psychological impacts of trauma. This can include many different reactions, including ones that may be subject to judgement such as substance use, withdrawal, impulsivity and compulsivity, risky behaviors, etc. (Hopper, 2016). Harsh judgements or attempts to control another person’s reactions to trauma are not constructive or supportive, as trauma often robs people of being in charge of themselves, their bodies, emotions, and cognitions, and further attempts at control can be retraumatizing. As such, reclaiming ownership of one’s body, mind and spirit is the work of healing, and honoring that work is the process of trauma-informed support (Van der Kolk, 2014).
Supporting people who have experienced sexual violence
Many of the ways that we have been conditioned as a society to respond to trauma can do more harm than good, and so many of the systems that are supposed to support survivors of sexual violence can be retraumatizing and harmful. The medical system, court system, law enforcement, school systems, etc. can often serve to retraumatize folks rather than help them. Many of these systems require that survivors talk about a traumatic event without first creating an environment of trust and safety or shame/blame survivors for the violence they experienced. Revisiting a traumatic event on its own may not be therapeutic and telling a trauma story in a way that is healing requires that the place in which you tell your story is safe and supportive (Van der Kolk, 2014).
The most important part of being a supportive friend, family member, service provider, etc. with someone who has experienced sexual violence is to believe them fully and unconditionally (“How to Help Someone You Care About Who Has Experienced Violence”). Trusting the survivor to know what they experienced, what they need, and how they want to be supported is vital. If you are a survivor, be kind to yourself and gentle with your process. If you are in the position of supporting someone who is a survivor, honor their wisdom to know what they need, listen, and believe unconditionally, thank them for trusting you with their story, and stay with them through their process.
Rachel Webb (she/her)
References
Hopper, J. (2016). Sexual Assault and the Brain: Key Info for Investigators, Advocates and
Other Professionals
“How To Help Someone You Care About Who Has Experienced Violence”, RU12? Website:
http://www.ru12.org/safespace-how-to- help.html.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of
Trauma. Penguin Books, New York, NY.