How Trauma and PTSD Change the Brain
Learn how trauma and PTSD change the brain—impacting the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex—and discover therapy-based recovery strategies.
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Trauma and PTSD isn’t just “all in your head” it’s literally in your head. Trauma and PTSD change the brain in four very specific ways. Traumatic experiences like abuse, assault, or witnessing violence or tragedy can leave people feeling constantly on edge. PTSD can impact your emotions, your stability, your relationships. And trauma can have an impact on your physical and mental health. These are really common experiences for many, and they are in part due to four ways that your brain changes after experiencing trauma. But the good news is that when you understand how trauma impacts the brain, these symptoms can often be reversed. You can learn to heal.
When trapped in a constant trauma response people with PTSD experience four types of difficult PTSD symptoms including:
1. Painful thoughts
2. Intense emotions
3. Bodily changes
4. Behavioral changes
These “symptoms” show up because after experiencing trauma, your brain changes on a physical level. This isn’t simply “damage” as people would perhaps think, but it’s your brain adapting to the experience that the world isn’t safe, and in my opinion, taking measures to help you avoid future dangers. So essentially it makes you more danger avoidant. Your brain is super moldable, and it adapts and shapes due to what we experience and how we use it. So when we experience trauma, here are four ways the brain changes, or adapts, after experiencing trauma:
00:00 Intro
03:16 The Amygdala
04:18 The Hippocampus
05:44 The Prefrontal Cortex
07:06 The Broader Nervous System
08:06 Neuroplasticity
Click the link below to access the transcript:
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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life’s direction.
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36 Comments
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Myself do over him he was very VERBALLY I Take. Any day before a slap cops. Allex I been in treMent. Ut of course she believes daddy I wZ married 8 half yrs got divorced
😊I have t seen heather22yrs I really don't know covj t life I think that's all u no.dax jump at her peck Me. All I have two more Ashley Richard al. Ne.hdTber. Ice cRson they lost Richard 59 yrs old he's old man thT
What I saw on the news in my City 😮with the cops 😮 my Son has heart failure because of these with OUT any arrest s . Why prey on us? I will solder on and my Son will rise 😮.. I'm stalked/harrased where ever I go recording. I will sue em they will go too far for these rich sick evil greedy psycho celebs music industry! Plus others they lie 😮 discrimination must be stopped in the UK and cop corruption 😮
She labeled everything that my braim goes through to a T. Wow. Thank you and God bless you for helping with memtal health. I suffer from sever PTSD and you gave me more hope.
Great description, thank you, you bring hope.
As a 24 year old. Excessive Traumatic Events led to me feeling dumb. I cant articulate well as if my vocabulary is very minimal now. As i speak my brain shuts down and i forget what im saying constantly, which is why i dont have conversations, debate or explain myself.. everytime i do its hard to put it in words so im stuck with a pause and my mind has to think about what i was gonna say.
Its really hard for me to comprehend when people talk about topics that require critical thinking. Listening to podcasts makes me feel like im the dumbest person in the room. People that use big words and articulate well have my most respect. My mind is constantly overworking. In school i was smart snd ive made straight A's, its just i feel like i cant express my opinions, add on to conversations especially when theres critical thinking involved because sometimes i think i wont make sense or if i try to articulate facts ppl will say im wrong. I dont feel smart but i know im intelligent in my own way. I can do normal things like a regular person, but trauma has really messed me up mentally. Idk how to escape my mind.
As of right now, i tried to type this❤️ to my best ability, im better thru text but in person i stall. I prefer text over physical communication. I dont wish this on my worst enemy, i wish i was able to think critically. Some day i hope i can🙏
I got ptsd from being forced into the Detroit UAW union.
Drunk union thugs mobbing and bullying me on the work floor for over 7 years, following me around in the community gangstalking me in my free time off…
and their constant attempts with false accusations to incarcerate and or institutionalize me, lies to HR about things I never did or would do,
leading to a wrongful termination and career blackballing that cost me no less than $4 million combined in lost income to retirement and lost retirement pension.
My advice…
If you are college educated and care for your health and do not drink alcohol, do drugs or smoke…
NEVER TAKE A COMPULSORY UNION MEMBERSHIP JUST TO HAVE A JOB!
It has been 18 years since then and it might as well have been last week.
Those are the most evil lowlife scum people i ever encountered in my life.
I've had 30 to 40 years of seeing trauma and being afraid is not my problem
What do you do when you just stop caring?
When all the things around you mean nothing because you've seen what's important in life but you stop caring so much that you don't care to actually do much of anything except go through the motions hoping that one day you will care and hoping one day you can find true happiness somewhere for all the things we should be happy about instead of only a couple if that
The mind is the strongest thing we have but it can also break and when it does it's hard to tell reality from fiction or the opposite where you know that a child's life means something but a house doesn't so you don't take care of the house like you should or do the things normal people would do
i suffered severe childhood trauma.
i couldn't talk until age 6.
My family was cruel and continues their sick behavior.
i did poorly in school until i met Jesus. i learned 10 Bible verses a week for 2 years. First, week it took 12 hours. 1 year later, 10 minutes.
Thanks this information seems helpful I had a weird situation where I looked at a intrusive image that wasn’t naturally produced it was engineered to attack the amygdala and create a false trauma now I’m dealing with the aftermath never thought this would be a thing
Hi..thank you for promting long held tears to flow..l am watching this on utube on a duvet day and it is the right time to reach into the pain. I have tried alcohol, drugs, relationship addiction and many other obsessive compulsive habits to numb the self out over my lifetime…this explanation points accurately to the fact that l did nothing wrong but l ( bravely) carried the weight of mutilple tramaus all my life..thank you again, l am currently sober from all addictions for a long time so hopefully now is the time to return to feeling safe and at one with myself, and the world around me..l witnessed a lot of violence and major disruption in my early childhood..Still relive a lot of the shame and anger. Have flashbacks and dreams that are filled with pain and terror…any people places or things can trigger fear rage and depression…this makes for really tough life..but l am hopefully and uplifted to see an explanation about brain function, which seems promising and hopefully will be fruitful for me and others who struggle with this difficult condition.
Many thanks again.
I have childhood trauma and trying to understand it, live with it and heal from this. Not now sorry
That's what I want to understand.., I feel like I'm stuck, chained, frightened, ..every step or sound or word or tone of voice makes me feel unsafe, afraid, short breaths, heart beating fast, that bad feeling 😢…
And the worst part is that people around don't see what's happening with you….
Very helpful, thank you for the information and approach.
Or how about a constant barrage of bad news and problems from your spouse? I have real bad GAD , and my wife, bless her heart, only texts me 99% of the time with bad news it’s never to say hi or how is your day going or how you feeling? And if she does it’s followed up with something bad. Over the years I have developed anxiety or I guess ptsd. Every time I hear her text sound it triggers my anxiety.
I am a survivor of domestic violence.
My family has never acknowledged what I went through nor do they understand ptsd.
I was sponsored by ErasePtsdNow and receive my SGB through Stella. It essentially reset my flight or fight nerve.
The saddest aspect of everything was even after treatment, my family perceived me as being difficult or too emotional or just extremely unable to understand how their refusal to discuss things rationally with me led to more trauma and fear of being unable to communicate feeling unsafe. Which after two years of my treatment has feeling almost back at prior to treatment level anxieties.
Is that a normal trigger after treatment? It’s frustrating being able to function but then trying to communicate with toxic individuals who refuse to work or observe themselves as in any way an escalating factor of a problem they blame me for. The more I try to explain the more they label me as reactive and just completely clueless to myself being the problem which loops me to feel similar like I felt while in the domestically abusive relationship where I was never sure what I did that set him off just knew it was always something I did and never able to clarify it’s not actually me. Even in therapy i can say I wasn’t the problem but I find myself trying to really believe it and it’s a terrible loop. PTSD is by far so misunderstood .
Nobody tells you your still in space and a giant physic experiment and the elites are chasing you in your head as you descend back to earth fkin tell them about the 2 god principle string and entanglement theory
Thk u
I think I might have this I had very traumatic medical conditions recently I did die and came back from death I had severe infection that went septic ended up with meningitis mini stroke 3 weeks in come 1 month ICU 3 seizures 2 weeks inpatient at rehabilitation center 2months hospital stay now 7 weeks out patient hoping to go back to work in January still waiting for neurologist
Can you imagine a simple thing like witnessing violence can be a catalyst to entering the endless loop of trauma responses dysregulating your nervous system. Movies make you witnessing violence without choice, the news,social media. We live on a planet that cultivates mental illness. It's so sad. Oh LORD help us all 💔
I have been living like this but never been diagnosed. Thank you for making it an actual thing and I’m not crazy. Thank you for your scientific, physiological, and mental health approach.
Around ppl don't feel safe am in danger want go hide go to places can be be safe. Ppl treated me am crazy am not my fear taken over how do control it ?
I’ve been in the system and then straight from the system into an Narcissist hands for 7 years only just escaping but literally when I was a teenager, I was getting into shit I was mucking up doing bad drugs but it’s funny because as soon as I came into my daughter‘s life after the mother ran off with another guy and sent me crazy, they lost the kids to family services but ever since I’ve been in my daughter‘s life, I’m not the person I ever remember and I’m trying to figure out why like yeah I’m still depressed and stuff but honestly without her in my life, I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing to be honest like I honestly do not recognise the person I was and it’s kind of rare and usually you have to put in the effort for that type of stuff but it’s kind of just happened over years of trauma but also being able to be in my daughter’s life, my father never a good father to me. Never wanted anything to do with me I’ve even tried to bond with him and interact with him him and honestly my mum are separated. I honestly just in their own little worlds but anyways, I guess that gives me more desire to be a better father I mean but apparently it’s just rare for guys to change but I don’t really identify myself as other guys lol I mean I do have a disability as well, but honestly being in my daughter’s life has honestly saved me. I think for a lot of things.
I think you pretty much described me
so wait, is this permanent omg 😢
Living with my vicious father who took all his rage out on me constantly has left me an empty shell of a person I feel like I can never relax and I'm always tired.
I wish this addressed or also included the fear response known as “fawning” and the real common “Stockholm syndrome” people with ptsd / complex ptsd experience as well.
Super excellent explanation! Gonna share with my clients!
I was diagnosed over 10 years ago with CPTSD, anxiety, and severe depression. I had soooo many different traumas when I was a small kid up to my early 20s. The worst being raped by a neighbor and his partner from 12-14. Im now 55 and ive tried everything in therapy, including EMDR which my therapist at that time told me it was the cure all for trauma and when it didn't work, I felt COMPLETELY hopeless since she told me that. And she told me I would need to find someone else since that didn't work, she doesn't know what else to do! After having to tell my whole story in details 6 times with 6 different therapists over 9 years, i just gave up on therapy. Well now, 3 years later, I have been getting worse again so in 2 days I start over with a new therapist AGAIN!! Wish me luck and if you believe in God, please pray for me, this may be my last chance!!
Bro I am 7 years old and for 30 years you did everything in your power to destroy my mental powers and I'm still smarter than you right now
Trauma is an Injury that can Heal! 💙
It does, trauma changes your personality. You heal but you are never the same. Before the trauma you feel safe. After trauma you have fear almost all the time. Then you become apathetic. Jesus Christ can heal you and there is peace and safety in the presence of God. The spirit can probably heal, but I think the body never forgets. The body doesn't always heal, and to this day there are things that I will never do again (like have sex, drink alcohol or smoke. Trauma made sure I never do those things again and you eventually become happy cause you're safe when you don't do those things etc.).
Thank you so much for this video! I was born in an orphanage and had my first 5 years there….i was adopted to a loving family and was very lucky. But i was always aware of the nightmares, the stress, anxiety, and feeling unsafe all of the time. I try to tell myself "its not real, its just a memory response" thank you again!
Can Trauma, Phobia Anxiety cause Early Parkinsons?.
I have been diagnosed with PTSD on top of suffering a traumatic brain injury. I have been in therapy with a few different LCSW and PhD psychologists since my PTSD diagnosis; I've done CBT to work on what I've felt is at the fire front of my stressors , a few sessions of EMDR (several years ago) to address how my employer treated me after I was injured on the job (my tbi), and i have done a lot of journaling.
I had like I've been stuck in fight or flight since my tbi happened. I try really hard to relax and I do not know how to anymore. My brain does not shut off, my heart rate is always 100 +, I am short fused, short triggered, and I feel on edge with even one encounter that makes me feel on edge; I have days I can't even fave what it is I need to be doing even when the thing itself is not scary to me.
I haven't been able to maintain employment for more than a week or two before finding my safe place (at home) again.
I'm on several psych meds that have been evaluated thoroughly by my new doctor and changes have been made accordingly to help me feel the least amount of anxiety.
I think my parasympathetic nervous system is broken. From what you've said, I need to work on that, but I feel like once some new stressor comes along, I'm right back to the starting line.
I have started with a new therapist and I'm not sure what he is trained in that he can help me with. I'll reach out to him today if I can. I feel my issues are in my mind but they have taken over my brain and have severely affected my muscles to where I'm constantly tight all over.
I need some help with where to start from here. Would you please assist me by recommending a good start to the next chapter of my healing journey?
I'm so tired of feeling like I do. It affects every relationship I have and I'm so tired of being alone.