Key Takeaways
Trauma and anxiety can affect more than our emotions. They may cause physical symptoms such as muscle tension, headaches, digestive problems, fatigue, and trouble sleeping. Our bodies can remain on high alert long after a traumatic experience. Even everyday situations may trigger a stress response when something reminds us of a past threat.
Chronic stress can contribute to physical and emotional health problems. It may also affect eating habits, relationships, and how we cope with difficult feelings. Trauma and anxiety therapy can help us better understand these connections. With appropriate support, we can learn healthier ways to manage stress, reduce anxious reactions, and begin feeling more comfortable in our own skin.
Can Trauma and Anxiety Cause Physical Symptoms?
Short answer: yes. Here’s why: traumatic experiences and the resulting anxiety coming from it can take a toll on our health in many ways and especially physically. Based in fear, conscious or not, and usually a response to traumatic situations, anxiety (and depression) can best be explained as a low-level bodily tension, or a mind/body set of “hypervigilance” against further upset. When muscles remain tense, they tire and show fatigue, eventually breaking down under the stress. This stress expresses itself as nervous discomfort, erupting at times in panic and physical symptoms like shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, and rapid pulse. Long-term, these unrelenting tensions can manifest as high blood pressure, obesity, substance abuse, and anxiety. Depression occurs alongside anxiety as a kind of “mirror image” discomfort. We feel lost. Our motivation slips away. Sleep is troubled. Our health deteriorates.
What Are the Physical Symptoms of Trauma and Anxiety?
Ever feel exhausted even though you haven’t done much? Or notice your stomach tightening, your heart racing, or a headache coming on when something upsetting happens? These can be physical signs of anxiety, and sometimes they’re connected to traumatic experiences we haven’t fully worked through.
Our bodies respond to perceived threats by preparing us to fight, flee, or protect ourselves. That’s useful when we’re actually in danger. But when the nervous system remains on high alert, we may experience muscle tension, headaches, digestive problems, fatigue, dizziness, and difficulty sleeping. Some people notice trembling, sweating, a pounding heartbeat, or a sense that they just can’t relax.
What’s especially frustrating is that these reactions don’t always make sense in the moment. A particular sound, smell, conversation, or uncomfortable situation may stir up feelings connected to an earlier experience, even when we don’t immediately recognize the connection.
Of course, not every headache, stomachache, or racing heart is caused by trauma or anxiety. Physical symptoms can have many explanations, and new, persistent, or concerning symptoms deserve medical attention. Understanding the possible connection between our emotional and physical health can help us take better care of both.
How Can Trauma Affect Your Physical Health Over Time?
Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is a common response to trauma. Fears, especially from adverse childhood experiences, inspire tension (think “fight/flight) that is designed to protect us from further harm. This response was key to our survival during our ancient ancestors’ time, but we now live differently. The body still retains a kind of vigilant, active memory of having been threatened in any way.
Eating Habits
Obesity is often an outcome of trying to soothe troubling thoughts and feelings with food. Our “vigilance” after trauma may remain so inflamed that we often miss cues that our hunger has been satiated, and we eat more. For many, a feeling of fullness is equivalent to safety. At an extreme level, we may see serious conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder, in which a person literally cannot see the reality of their physical condition or wrongly interpret it. A very large person may be unable to see their size accurately. A very skinny person may have an equally distorted view. Anorexia and bulimia can result in starvation from this very condition of the mind that distorts one’s image in the mirror. Obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors follow.
Substance Use
Substance abuse and addiction can rapidly erode our health. Troubling thoughts resulting from traumatic experiences, however long ago, can often feel “drowned out” with alcohol, cannabis, or other mood-altering substances. Taking a drink can relax us and make us forget our troubles. Too many drinks over a prolonged period can leave us depressed and anxious, living in a body that has been weakened through improper nutrition and the damaging effects of alcohol.
These physical conditions can emerge without origins in early life trauma, as there are heritable predispositions in all of them. When high anxiety is present, the manifestations of these sicknesses can be profound.
Why Can Childhood Trauma Affect Your Body Years Later?
Since the days of our ancestors, we have been instinctively equipped to “put the past behind us” and keep moving forward in life. This instinct is one of our greatest survival mechanisms. That’s why we often forget or misinterpret details of the most awful things that have happened in our past and retain only vague memories of events and circumstances that were truly traumatic.
Under the assault of certain childhood family dynamics, we may have been seriously hurt, overly frightened, or grievously harmed, and our capacity to cope may have been temporarily compromised. These experiences are lodged in the cells of our bodies, and the body retains memory at a cellular level. When circumstances appear later in our life that bring back memories, such as a sound, a smell, a taste, or other sensory experience, or especially intimate relationships, our bodies respond to protect us. Whether we need it or not.
How Can Unresolved Trauma Affect Your Health and Relationships? A Client’s Story
I’ll tell a brief story here from my anxiety therapy practice in Delray Beach to illustrate some of what I’ve proposed, but first a disclaimer: Any client examples or clinical situations discussed in this blog have been altered, combined, or fictionalized to protect confidentiality. Names, identifying details, and circumstances are changed, and no example is intended to identify any current or former client.
When Anxiety Begins Affecting Everyday Life
I was introduced to Allen by his soon-to-be ex-wife Gina. He came reluctantly, having been threatened with the ultimatum of an expensive divorce. Gamely, he shuffled into my office, shoulders slumped, eyes downcast with a pale sheen of perspiration atop his forehead. Likely at least a hundred pounds overweight, he breathed uneasily as we sat together in couples counseling. “You need to get some therapy, or I’m divorcing you immediately!” exclaimed his wife. “And I’m going to take your money when that happens, because I know you’ve been paying thousands to prostitutes. I’m no dummy!” Allen alternated between angry outbursts and tearfulness. Between them, each blamed the other for a family that had fallen apart. We accomplished little in spite of their obvious pain.
Allen and Gina had two young children that I would later meet in several family sessions later on. Getting to know them helped me understand that in spite of his many flaws and his lack of self-care, he was a good dad. He doted on these children (but at times, excessively). They seemed to be the only remaining connection he kept from a marriage that had lost its luster many years ago. He’d become a lousy husband. After his children were born, he’d become disinterested in sex, preferring long hours at work over time spent at home creating and enjoying a healthy home. Toward his marriage, he became neglectful and inattentive. Gina gradually grew weary of his long absences and demanded he move out of their bedroom and occupy the opposite end of their rambling ranch-style home.
When Anxiety Leads to Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Under these circumstances, Allen’s anxiety reached hurricane proportions. He felt lonely and lost and unable to dampen the panic that often overcame him. His drinking increased heavily. Seeking increased self-soothing from his anxious thoughts, he developed an eating disorder and gained weight. He’d lost his interest in Gina, and she became increasingly scornful of him. Longing for human touch and any kind of connection, he sought prostitutes, preferring the environments of adult entertainment to home. Secure from a substantial business income, as well as having inherited an eight-figure family fortune, Allen used his wealth as a coping mechanism, never realizing that the excesses it allowed would eventually crash the world around him, including his compromised health. By the time I’d met Allen, he was employing a “girlfriend” (prostitute) who accessed his credit card in excess of $30K per month!
How Can Childhood Trauma Shape Adult Anxiety?
Allen’s story poured from him once we established a trusting and workable therapeutic relationship. While Gina was uninterested in couples work (they eventually divorced), Allen retained a healthy and genuine curiosity about his life and how it had gotten so out of his control. I learned that when Allen was only a first grader, he’d lost an older brother in a tragic car crash. His family was devastated, and his parents lived a long and painful decline, drifting into mutual silence and separation, rather than sharing their profound pain.
Allen remembered living through this period mostly alone, grieving quietly and tragically as his parents refused to speak of his brother’s death. Secrecy inspired a shameful family culture, as if someone might have prevented his brother’s death but didn’t and now was to blame. Under these conditions, Allen had remained tense and preoccupied, preferring school to home, gradually distancing himself from his parents and leaving home at 17. “I always felt something missing in my life”, Allen reported. “When I left home, something in me died”, he said, “my hands have shaken during the oddest moments for no reason at all!”
Why Can Trauma Lead to Unhealthy Coping Patterns?
Allen and Gina were happy in their early years together. Children came quickly, and they devoted their attention to them with a passion. But gradually their marriage was without passion, and communication between them faltered, becoming empty of intimacy and filled with the details of investments, property, and money. “We just quit trying”, he reported. “I never wanted this”. But sadly, by now, Allen had become dependent on the attention and easy sexuality of the prostitutes he employed. Using his money, he was relieved of the problem-solving required to work it out at home.
When these prostitutes were eventually found out by Gina, she became furious and determined to exact her revenge. She appropriated large chunks of their estate, sequestering them into dubious investments and spending freely as a single woman in a married home. Allen chose to go along rather than confront her. And these choices to avoid solving problems would resonate in every area of his life. “I feel frozen,” he reported. “I just don’t know how to unlock this prison I’m in”. Unknowingly, he preferred his “known” condition of pain and suffering over any “freedom” he may have harvested by becoming stronger and facing his multiple addictions: food, alcohol, spending, and prostitution. Dependency on substances or processes is very common as a “trauma response” and can be quite difficult to unravel and manage.
How Trauma and Anxiety Therapy Can Help
Our work would proceed slowly. As he gradually became aware of the constant, ambient anxiety he carried, Allen began to remember many of the events of his early life. Through this process, he came to realize and change some of his distorted thinking. Breathwork was critical in helping him to let go of much of the anxious tension stalking him throughout his life.
As his body relaxed and the stress dropped away, he became more available to clear thinking, especially about how he’d interpreted the events around his brother’s death. He now understood more thoroughly his family’s pain around that death, and he was able to uncover self-limiting beliefs that had plagued him throughout his early life. He would gradually heal his long-held fear of intimacy. Sex with prostitutes had become a coping method for him, shielding him from the intimacy he so hungered for.
He began by getting sober. With the help of a sponsor, his connection to AA became the source of a healthier life and connections as he built a network of sober friends through attendance at regular AA meetings. Gradually, in therapy, Allen was able to understand the overlap and connections between his other addictions. He engaged a nutrition coach and quickly began losing weight. He’d realized he’d used food and overeating to mask feelings of pain and inadequacy. He began online meetings with SLAA, a support network for sex and love addiction.
What Does Recovery From Trauma and Anxiety Look Like?
The kind of work Allen has been doing with us requires great patience and persistence. Setbacks are common, and some sessions can be painful. He is still under our care in his second year of therapy. He is thinner now and smiles more easily. He’s making progress in many ways, including finalizing his divorce and setting up a parental sharing plan.
When Should You Seek Professional Help for Trauma and Anxiety?
If you or someone you love is suffering from a traumatic response like anxiety or depression, or addiction, regardless of its roots, you might benefit from professional help. Struggling with the kinds of difficulty described here, especially with early childhood trauma as a backdrop, can damage a person’s confidence and self-esteem. It can be liberating and empowering to ask for help. An anxiety therapist can guide you toward peace, understanding, and a sense of calm. It’s a wise investment and may take time, but the payoff can be priceless.
I would love to help. Call or text me at 561-213-8030 or email me at jdlmhc@gmail.com for a consultation.
When Trauma and Anxiety Affect Your Health, Anxiety Therapy in Delray Beach, FL, Can Help
Tired of feeling tense, exhausted, or constantly on edge without understanding why? Anxiety therapy can help you explore the connection between your emotional experiences and physical symptoms, develop healthier ways to manage stress, and begin feeling more at ease in your own body.
Sometimes, the experiences we thought we’d left behind continue to influence how we think, feel, and respond to everyday life. We may find ourselves reacting strongly to situations that don’t seem particularly threatening, struggling to relax, or relying on habits that offer temporary comfort but create bigger problems down the road. At my counseling practice in Delray Beach, FL, I help clients recognize these patterns and work through the emotional difficulties that may be keeping their nervous systems on high alert.
Here’s how you can begin working toward relief:
- Schedule a consultation to discuss what you’ve been experiencing. We’ll start by talking about what’s troubling you and how therapy may help.
- Explore the connection between trauma, anxiety, and your body’s responses by working with an experienced anxiety therapist in Delray Beach, FL.
- Build healthier ways to cope and reconnect with your life. With patience, understanding, and consistent support, you can begin responding differently to stress.
Additional Counseling John Davis Counseling Offers in Delray Beach
The effects of trauma don’t always disappear when a difficult experience is over. Through anxiety therapy, we can begin to understand why old fears and painful memories still affect us, learn healthier ways to respond, and gradually build a greater sense of emotional and physical well-being.
But trauma and anxiety seldom affect just one part of our lives. They can influence our relationships, confidence, daily habits, and even the choices we make when trying to escape uncomfortable feelings. At my Delray Beach counseling practice, I offer trauma therapy, grief and loss counseling, individual relationship therapy, couples counseling, therapy for men, and therapy for women. I also work with clients experiencing mood concerns, chronic impulsivity, and major life transitions.
No two people carry their experiences in quite the same way. Some struggle with painful childhood memories, while others find themselves overwhelmed by a loss, a difficult relationship, or years of unresolved stress. That’s why I draw from several therapeutic approaches, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), EMDR, Gestalt therapy, mindfulness, psychodrama, and clinical hypnosis, depending on what may be most helpful for each client.
Our work together isn’t simply about making uncomfortable feelings disappear. It’s about understanding where those feelings come from, recognizing the habits and reactions that may be keeping us stuck, and finding healthier ways to move forward. I invite you to explore my client reviews and mental health blog for additional insights, or contact my office to learn more about the counseling services available. Sometimes, understanding what’s happening beneath the surface is where meaningful change begins.
About the Author
John Davis, LMHC, is an experienced anxiety therapist in Delray Beach, FL, who helps individuals, couples, and families work through anxiety, trauma, and related emotional difficulties. Drawing on his background in child and family therapy, John recognizes how painful experiences, including childhood loss, family conflict, and unresolved trauma, can continue affecting our emotional and physical well-being long into adulthood. Through anxiety therapy, he helps clients understand how past experiences may contribute to persistent worry, physical tension, unhealthy coping patterns, and difficulties in their relationships.
John uses a trauma-informed, integrative counseling approach tailored to each client’s circumstances. His work may incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), EMDR, Gestalt therapy, mindfulness, psychodrama, and clinical hypnosis. In addition to his clinical practice, John serves as Executive Director of the Mental Health Counselors’ Association of Palm Beach, is a recipient of the Outstanding Community Service Award, and is featured as an expert therapist on StayMarriedFlorida.com. His goal is to help clients better understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, and physical responses while developing healthier coping skills, greater resilience, and a renewed sense of confidence in everyday life.
