Trauma can show up in ways you’d never connect to it.
Some people notice it as headaches, stomach trouble or exhaustion they can't explain.
Others notice it in reactions that feel bigger than the moment.
Some only notice it when a smell, a song or a season brings it all back.
Maybe you feel:
- frozen
- haunted
- keyed up
- shut down
Your nervous system adapted to what you lived through.
Understanding trauma can help you be gentler with yourself.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is anything that overwhelms your ability to cope, and it can leave your body stuck in survival.
It can be from one event, or build over time through repeated abuse, neglect or discrimination.
Trauma is about what happened and how your body responded to survive.
Most people live through individual or collective trauma, though many don’t name it as trauma.
It can look different across people, from flashbacks and nightmares to quiet numbness or overworking.
The past can keep shaping how safe you feel now, long after it's over.
Signs and Symptoms of Trauma
Physical
- inability to relax
- jaw clenching
- jumping at noises
- shallow breathing
Mental
- flashbacks
- memory gaps
- scanning for danger
- trouble focusing
Emotional
- numbness
- self-blame
- shame
- sudden fear
Social
- avoiding reminders
- distrust of others
- keeping busy
- sitting near exits
What Causes Trauma?
Trauma usually comes from what happened, and from what didn’t happen afterward:
- Your body: illness, injury, medical procedures and early stress can shape how you startle and settle.
- Your experiences: abuse, accidents, assault, loss, neglect, violence or work incidents can leave a lasting imprint.
- Your relationships: being alone with it, not believed or blamed afterward can deepen the wound.
- Your world: colonization, discrimination, pandemics, poverty, racism and war can cause trauma that builds over years.
Staying on guard or shutting down can protect you, and both can keep your body from fully resting.
Your body responded in the best way it could to keep you alive.
Trauma and Your Nervous System
Your nervous system uses survival mechanisms like fight, flight, freeze or shutdown to protect you.
Trauma, ongoing stress, unsafe relationships and discrimination can keep your body stuck in survival.
Your body has a startle and stress response, and a built-in recovery response.
A startle sends a fast burst of adrenaline, and if the threat continues, cortisol follows.
Startling is your system working to protect you, and your body knows how to recover.
Your nervous system can learn to settle more quickly and return to rest after stress.
Trauma Across Generations
What if some of what you carry started before you were born?
Families who lived through war, residential schools, migration or abuse can pass down pain and ways of surviving.
What one generation survived can shape how the next one feels safe.
That’s part of why you can feel the weight of things you never lived through.
Trauma across generations can look like staying watchful, silence about feelings or expecting the worst.
Families also pass down their strengths, courage, wisdom and stories of how they survived.
The healing you do can reach the generations who come after you.
Ways to Care for Yourself
Here and now
When you feel pulled back in time, notice what you can see and feel right here, right now.
Honor your limits
Notice when something feels like too much, too fast or too soon, and pause or stop if you can.
Shake it out
If your body trembles or wants to move after a scare, let it. Shaking can help your body settle.
Find safety
Spend time with people or animals in places where your body can remember what safety feels like.
When to Get Help
You might tell yourself others had it worse, so you should be fine.
But the size of the trauma doesn’t decide the size of the response.
It might be time to reach out if you:
- avoid reminders of the past
- feel numb or far away
- feel on edge or easily startled
- keep reliving what happened
Trauma can come from one moment or many small moments over time.
When you feel trapped, it’s time to get help.
Therapy can help you heal at the pace of safety.
Questions About Trauma
Why do I still react years later?
Why can’t I remember parts of it?
Why did I freeze instead of fight?
Why doesn't rest feel restful?
What is complex trauma?
What’s the difference between trauma and PTSD?
What is intergenerational trauma?
Can trauma affect my physical health?
Resources for Trauma in Alberta
If you’re in immediate danger, call 911.
If you’re in crisis, call or text 988 any time, day or night. For more crisis lines across Alberta, visit our crisis support page.
Support Lines
- Mental Health Helpline: 1-877-303-2642. Free support and referrals for anyone in Alberta, 24/7.
- 211 Alberta: Call or text 211, or chat online, to find local mental health services and community supports.
- Hope for Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310 or chat online. Support for Indigenous people across Canada, 24/7.
Learn and Practice
- Alberta Family Wellness Initiative: Take the free Brain Story course on how early experiences shape the brain.
- MyHealth Alberta: Read about trauma and PTSD on Alberta's trusted health information site.
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: Learn about residential schools and their impact across generations.
Related Topics in This Library
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