Studies show trauma increases likelihood of disease, poor health

This story first appeared in Healthy You - January 2025, The Gazette’s quarterly health publication.

You’re likely familiar with the ways that traumatic experiences impact mental health, as evidenced by conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Our culture is replete with images of the combat veteran having flashbacks, feeling tense and on edge, and struggling with focus and sleep.

What science is now revealing is the profound effect of trauma on the physical body. Trauma can change our brain chemistry and increase the speed of cellular aging, leading to illnesses and immune system deficiencies, and even serious diseases like cancer. This can all serve to shorten lifespan.

“In my practice, I see chronic headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and other problems with digestion in people who have trauma and are stuck in chronic stress,” said Wendy Stokesbary, Licensed Mental Health Counselor with the Kind Heart Center in Cedar Rapids. “It can also lead to more serious disease over time.”

However, disease is not inevitable. Even if you’ve experienced trauma, there are things you can do to reduce the effects of chronic stress on your body and lead a healthy life.

How trauma affects the body

It’s not just single traumatic events, like a car accident or the sudden death of a loved one, that cause trauma.

Experiencing a string of traumatic events over time, like growing up in an abusive household, or enduring ongoing bullying, can cause trauma as well. Even chronic stress caused by interpersonal relationships or work can lead to physical changes in the body.

Research shows that chronic stress is associated with such health issues as muscle tension, digestive problems, headaches, weight gain or loss, trouble sleeping, heart disease, susceptibility to cancer, high blood pressure and stroke.

Additionally, experiencing traumatic events can make the body age more quickly at a biological level. It changes the makeup of the gut microbiome, which has a negative impact on overall health, because gut bacteria strongly influence the metabolic, endocrine, immune and nervous systems.

ACEs and childhood trauma

People who experienced trauma in childhood are especially susceptible to poor health outcomes in adulthood.

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, such as experiencing violence, abuse or neglect; having a family member attempt or die by suicide; or witnessing substance abuse or mental health problems in the home.

ACEs can have long-term negative impacts on health and wellbeing. “There’s a correlation between adverse childhood experiences with disease later in life, such as COPD, diabetes, heart disease and cancer,” said Stokesbary, who has worked extensively with children who have experienced trauma.

If an individual has four or more ACEs, they’re six times as likely to have clinical depression compared to those who have zero, according to ACEs 360 Iowa. Higher ACEs scores also increase the likelihood of health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and auto-immune-related illnesses like arthritis and fibromyalgia.

“For children who have experienced trauma, the effects can be mitigated through l ove and connection,” Stokesbary said. “A safe, stable environment and strong social connections can help buffer the effects.”

The stress response: what’s normal and what’s not

We all experience a certain amount of stress. If you’re driving on a slippery road during a snowstorm, or if you trip and fall, you need to respond immediately. Ideally, stress helps us focus and solve problems.

When the stress response is activated, the body releases cortisol and other stress hormones. Typically, the level of cortisol drops as the stressful event ends, but chronic stressors keep cortisol levels high over time, which is hard on the body on a cellular level.

In people with PTSD, the fear response system is dysregulated, increasing sensitivity to perceived threats.

Coping with stress in real time

Stokesbary shared actions you can take to help move your body out of a heightened stress state.

“ We all experience fight or flight. When dealing with rising stress levels, the important thing is doing something to get out of that state,” Stokesbary said. “You have to establish safety.”

The focus of these actions is somatic, which simply means body focused.

“We want to move away from the brain and into the body. Bilateral movements, like walking, are especially helpful to calm your nervous system,” Stokesbary said. “You’re not going to be able to problem solve and discuss your way out of the issue when you’re in those heightened states.”

Treatment for trauma and PTSD

Understanding the ways that trauma can impact your body offers awareness so you can do something about it. Working with a trauma-informed therapist is a great place to start. Your primary care doctor or insurance company can give you a list of local therapist options.

Therapists have evidence-based approaches they can use to help you cope with trauma and toxic stress. Techniques like EMDR, or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, have a great reputation for being an effective treatment for trauma.

“EMDR incorporates somatics with talk therapy, which is why it’s so effective,” said Stokesbary, who uses the technique with clients. It’s believed to help the brain process and "re-store" the memory, reducing its emotional intensity and negative impact on the individual.