Whether you’re a trauma survivor, know someone who had traumatic experiences, or work as a mental health professional, you understand that living through hardships can deeply affect people in a wide range of ways.
Each person’s brain has a unique perception of traumatic events accompanied by unique processing of emotions, thoughts, and actions. As a result, predicting an individual’s response to trauma is nearly impossible.
In today’s guide, we’re exploring common trauma responses. Is overthinking a trauma response? What causes it? How to recognize it? How to break free from it? We’ll answer these questions and more to help you cultivate a healthier mind and body.
Table of Contents
What Is a Trauma Response?
When a person who has experienced a traumatic event perceives a threat, their brain will unconsciously respond to it in a certain way that translates their survival instincts and reflects how the trauma affected them.
This change is called a trauma response, and it often causes individuals to alter how they feel, think, behave, or react to their surroundings or other people.
Leaving trauma untreated and trauma responses unaddressed means they’ll grow more intense and tiring, harming the individual’s mental and physical health.
On the mental health fort, symptoms of unresolved trauma include agitation, anxiety, nervousness, low concentration, and depression. As for physical health, symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, weight gain, and headaches may result from untreated trauma.
Trauma Response vs Trauma Symptom
A trauma response and a trauma symptom are two different things that manifest and progress differently depending on the individual and their trauma.
A trauma response typically happens quickly after something triggers a memory of the trauma, whereas a trauma symptom usually persists long after the traumatic incident.
Is Overthinking a Type of Trauma Response?
Yes, overthinking is one of the most common types of trauma responses. It’s also referred to as rumination, obsessive thoughts, and hyper-rationality.
Overthinking is a coping mechanism that people develop from an early stage in life, typically due to childhood trauma. Experiencing abuse, invalidation, or neglect as a child can push individuals into overthinking as a coping mechanism to have a sense of control and safety.
In other words, overthinking can be used as a means to protect oneself after experiencing trauma. It’s a known symptom of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and is mainly characterized by trapping the mind in a loop of negative or intrusive thoughts.
What Are Other Examples of a Trauma Response?
Besides overthinking, the following are examples of traumatic responses:
- Over-apologizing
- Hyper Independence
- Oversharing
- Overworking
- Constant apologizing
- Lack of Memory
- Isolation
- Lying
- Procrastination
- People-Pleasing
- Hoarding
What Causes Overthinking?
Overthinking results from the combination of trauma, fear, and uncertainty.
Traumatic experiences make the individuals who survive them more prone to overthinking, especially when it’s childhood trauma. The impact of distressing events that happen during those early years can last throughout the person’s life and affect their physical and mental health.
Examples of childhood trauma that may turn people into overthinkers range from events that seem less significant such as over-criticization, negligence, and lack of validation, to more seemingly serious ones such as abuse (physical, verbal, sexual, or emotional), subjection to tremendous loss, or witnessing violence.
Exposure to such events at a young age interferes with the development of the brain, causing psychological and emotional ramifications later on.
One of the most common consequences is the brain becoming wired for hyper-alertness as it’s always on the lookout for potential threats. The fixation on trying to plan everything to predict and avoid future danger enters the mind into a chronic cycle of repetitive negative thoughts.
Common Patterns of Overthinking
Different people manifest overthinking in various thought patterns that commonly include:
- Obsessing about the future: This type of chronic overthinking about the future typically causes feelings of nervousness/worry or worsens existing anxiety disorders.
- Obsessing about the past: Chronic overthinking about the past typically causes depressive symptoms or exacerbates existing depression.
- Catastrophizing: In this sort of thought pattern, individuals use incomplete or little information about a situation and jump into thinking of the worst-case scenarios that could happen.
- Personalization: Trauma survivors manifesting this thinking pattern tend to feel personally responsible or guilty for things that are out of their control.
- Black and white thinking: In this line of reasoning, people think in extremes. It’s either right or wrong, good or bad, left or right – completely ignoring the gray zone that often lies between two points.
How Does Trauma-Fueled Overthinking Affect Health?
Yes, chronic ruminating originating from traumatic events can have a significant impact on a person’s well-being.
When an analytical mind is too active, an individual’s mental health will suffer. They may isolate themselves as a way to avoid having to deal with emotional responses. They’re also likely to suffer from chronic stress, anxiety disorders, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), and depression.
Being stuck in a loop of recurring intrusive and negative thoughts can also affect the person’s physical health due to the overwhelming tension and stress. They may suffer from headaches, fatigue, digestive issues, muscle pain, disrupted sleep patterns, and insomnia.
Additionally, the consistent rise in the production of stress hormones (namely cortisol) can have a high risk of developing chronic high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
Conclusion: How To Overcome Overthinking Patterns?
The first step to break free from overthinking is to identify your overthinking pattern and recognize how it’s linked to childhood trauma.
From there, seeking therapy with a professional is essential for addressing the lingering trauma, exploring the root cause of your mental health condition, and learning healthy coping strategies.
Examples of therapy techniques for treating overthinking include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), clinical hypnotherapy, Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).
Practicing self-awareness while nurturing your self-compassion and self-esteem is key to anchoring your mind to live the present moment and forgive past mistakes.
If you or your loved one is struggling with chronic overthinking and need support in overcoming trauma, don’t hesitate to reach out.
References
- https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma
- https://dmh.mo.gov/healthykids/providers/trauma
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/understanding-ptsd/202404/4-trauma-responses-that-may-be-hurting-your-relationships
- https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207191/
