Why Anxiety and Trauma Often Show up Together

Often when working with clients who have experienced trauma, they report symptoms of anxiety. Let’s first look at how trauma impacts the nervous system. Our nervous system is designed to keep us safe and be on the lookout for danger. The nervous system is capable of monitoring the environment subconsciously. After a traumatic incident, this overwhelming information becomes stuck and unprocessed in the nervous system and therefore easily not ignored.

Anxiety is the body’s alarm system.

This shift of the way we see our environment causes one to become more sensitive to our surroundings - AKA hypervigilance. Anxiety hopes to prepare us against future danger, but in doing so, it creates uncomfortable symptoms of constantly thinking towards the future in a negative way- even when there is no danger happening. These symptoms of increased heart rate, muscle tension, alertness and rumination encompass the ‘fight, flight, freeze and fawn’ response. While these responses are designed to be helpful in the face of danger, these symptoms are very uncomfortable, especially when the traumatic incident has passed. 

This is why in therapy, specifically EMDR therapy, healing anxiety happens by addressing the deep rooted trauma that caused this overactive nervous system response. EMDR therapy aims to desensitize, and reprocess memories that are linked to feelings of being unsafe, to help one feel safe and secure again. 

Do you need more support dealing with the anxiety that comes with trauma? I provide EMDR therapy for people facing all of the anxiety that comes alongside trauma. Click here to get started.