Why You're Still Wound Up Hours After Being Triggered. The Body’s Response to Trauma
You know that feeling. Something happens—maybe someone raises their voice, or you get unexpected criticism at work—and suddenly your heart is racing. Your hands shake. Your mind goes blank or races with thoughts. Hours later, you're still wound up, unable to shake the feeling even though the "threat" is long gone, if it was a “threat” at all.
If you have a history of trauma, this isn't weakness. It's not you being "too sensitive." It's your nervous system doing exactly what it was trained to do: protect you at all costs.
Your Body Remembers What Your Mind Tries to Forget
Here's the thing about trauma—it rewires your brain's alarm system. Think of your nervous system like a smoke detector. In a normal brain, the detector goes off when there's actual fire, then quickly resets when the danger passes.
But trauma creates a hypersensitive detector. It starts going off at the smell of burnt toast, steam from a hot shower, or even just the memory of smoke. Your body can't tell the difference between a real threat and something that just reminds it of past danger.
This happens because trauma lives in the deeper, more primitive parts of your brain (subcortical regions)—areas that don't speak the language of logic and reason (prefrontal). When you're triggered, these ancient parts take over before your thinking brain even knows what's happening.
The Chemical Storm Inside You
When your body perceives danger, it floods your system with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These chemicals are meant to help you fight, flee, or freeze in the face of threat. They're lifesavers in actual emergencies.
But here's where trauma complicates things. If you've experienced repeated trauma, especially childhood trauma, your body becomes an expert at producing these chemicals. It's like having a car that's been driven hard for years—the engine runs hot, the brakes are sensitive, and it takes longer to cool down after every drive.
Even worse, when you have trauma history, your body often struggles to produce enough of the calming chemicals that should balance things out. GABA, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters that help you feel safe and relaxed may be in short supply. So you're stuck with all the stress chemicals and not enough of the "all clear" signals.
Why Time Doesn't Heal This Wound
You might think, "It's been hours (or days, or years) since that happened. Why can't I just get over it?" The answer lies in how trauma changes your nervous system's default settings.
A healthy nervous system has a natural rhythm. It can ramp up when needed, then return to baseline relatively quickly. But trauma disrupts this rhythm. Your baseline becomes hypervigilance instead of calm. Your body forgets how to truly relax because it's constantly scanning for the next threat.
This is why you might feel exhausted even when you haven't done anything physically demanding. Staying in a state of high alert is incredibly draining. It's like running a marathon while sitting at your desk.
“May I be happy,
May I be Healthy,
May I live with ease.”
-Loving kindness meditation
Breaking the Cycle
The good news? Your nervous system can learn new patterns, even after trauma. But it takes time, patience, and often professional help. Here are some ways to start:
Breathe with purpose. Deep, slow breathing signals safety to your nervous system. Try breathing in for four counts, holding for four, then out for six. This activates your parasympathetic nervous system—your body's natural brake pedal. Doing this for 5-minutes, 2x per day is shown to train your body to regulate faster and easier in the long-term.
Move your body. Trauma gets stored in our muscles and tissues. Gentle movement like walking, stretching, or yoga can help discharge that stored energy and tension. If you’re a dancer, get dancing!
Create safety anchors. Develop rituals that signal safety to your nervous system. This might be wrapping yourself in a soft or weighted blanket, listening to calming music, or repeating a mantra that reminds you that you're safe now.
Practice self-compassion. Stop judging yourself for taking time to recover. Your body is doing its best to protect you based on what it learned in the past. Thank it for trying to keep you safe, even when the alarm system is overly sensitive.
“May I be happy, May I be Healthy, May I live with ease”
Remember, healing isn't about never getting triggered again. It's about reducing the intensity and duration of your body's stress response. Each time you practice these skills, you're teaching your nervous system that it's safe to relax.
When to Seek Professional Help
Sometimes self-help strategies aren't enough, and that's okay. If your trauma responses are interfering with your daily life, relationships, or ability to function, it might be time to reach out for professional support.
Trauma therapy isn't about reliving painful memories over and over. Modern approaches like Brainspotting and somatic therapy, that access the deep brain, can help your nervous system process and integrate traumatic experiences without retraumatizing you.
A skilled trauma therapist can help you:
Understand your unique trauma responses
Develop personalized coping strategies
Process traumatic memories safely
Rebuild your sense of safety and control in your body
Learn to trust your body's signals again
You don't have to carry this burden alone. Seeking Trauma Therapy giving up—it's taking back your power. Your healing matters, and you deserve support on this journey.
If you're ready to take that step, check out Marie E Selleck therapy who offers therapy in Grand Rapids, MI as well as online in Michigan, Florida, and Arizona.
You're not broken. You're not weak. You're a survivor whose body learned to be hypervigilant to keep you alive. Now you get to teach it how to be calm—and you don't have to do it alone.
