 Hey, Psych2goers, welcome back to another video. Let's get into it. Have you experienced something traumatic in the past? According to a study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, approximately 70% of adults in the United States have or will experience a traumatic event in their lives. So, it's not as rare as you may think it is. On the same note, people often assume that trauma only affects the mind, perhaps in the form of PTSD. However, it can actually affect your physical well-being as well. So, here are five physical signs of past trauma that most people miss. Before we begin, we would like to mention that this video is created for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute a professional diagnosis. If you're struggling to cope with trauma or are suffering from any mental health condition, we highly advise you to seek help from a qualified mental health professional and avoid diagnosing yourself or others. Number one, fight or flight. Trauma often makes you feel as though there is threat around every corner. In response to this feeling of being in danger, your fight or flight system may kick in. Some physical manifestations of this fight or flight response is a sudden sense of hypervigilance and the feeling of being unsettled or agitated. This fear does not necessarily have to stem from possible physical violence, as it can also stem from being afraid of getting hurt or attacked emotionally or verbally or even from needing to relive a humiliating experience. However, there are various ways to treat this symptom. Mindfulness is a great tool that can help you learn to calm down whenever you're feeling overwhelmed. If you are working with a therapist, you can reach out to them about establishing a cognitive behavioral treatment. CBT treatment can give you the tools necessary to reinterpret your environment and assumed threats. Number two, chronic fatigue. Chronic fatigue can be a byproduct of different mental health issues and also from past trauma. Since your body is not designed to feel prolonged and high levels of stress all the time, you may end up experiencing chronic fatigue. Fight or flight is meant to happen in short bursts, not sustained periods of time. Studies have even shown that those with PTSD are eight times likelier to develop chronic fatigue. Luckily, there are many types of techniques you can try to help you cope with stress. The most popular method is meditation. It may feel daunting and difficult to do it first, but there are many educational apps and online guides that may help. Number three, chronic pain. Sometimes, traumatic events can end up causing physical pain. There have been countless studies about the mind-body link showing how our emotions can affect us physically. For example, we know that physical distress can lead to mental distress and vice versa. There have also been various studies analyzing trauma and chronic pain, specifically on fibromyalgia. A study published in 2018 found that patients who experienced childhood trauma reported higher symptoms of fibromyalgia. Other studies have also delved into the neural structure of how we perceive trauma and how it affects our pain reception. So, if you experience chronic pain as the result of trauma, you may want to work with your physician and therapist to address both the psychological and physiological repercussions of your trauma. Number four, GI distress. Have you experienced GI distress before? Perhaps in the past in the form of nausea or gassiness right before a big presentation. Well, gastrointestinal distress is an unknown and underrated physical manifestation of past trauma. Gastrointestinal distress, as a result of trauma, is more than just temporary discomfort. It can lead to intestinal problems such as inflammation, dysfunction or irritation. But gut houses so many necessary neurotransmitters and is in constant communication with the brain that it's important to pay attention to any unexplained intestinal issues should they arise. And number five, chronic headaches. Our bodies often harbor tension and stress in different places. The most popular place is the upper body, specifically the head and neck. Unless you have a condition that causes frequent headaches, you may want to consider unresolved trauma as a possible cause. There are different ways to treat tension headaches. Applying a hot or cold press is one way. But the best alternative for this type of chronic headaches may be to work towards resolving your trauma. Working with a mental health professional is highly recommended for this, as they may be able to teach you techniques to cope with stress and anxieties you're experiencing. One of the more recent types of treatment is called somatic experiencing. It's a type of therapy focused on the mind-body connection and aims to address both physical and physiological symptoms of events like grief, trauma, anxiety and depression. They treat the physical manifestations of the trauma first and then discuss the psychological symptoms after. Have you experienced any of these signs? Let us know in the comments below. If you found this video helpful, be sure to like, subscribe and share this video with those who might benefit from it. And don't forget to hit the notification bell icon to get notified whenever Psych2Go posts a new video. The references and studies used in this video are added in the description below. Thanks for watching and we'll see you in our next video.