Is your chronic illness linked to trauma?
- Jenny Adams Coach
- Jan 17, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 18
In my personal and professional experience- yes.
It took me a long time and a lot of self reflection (and inner turmoil and therapy!) to realise the trauma I had been through as a teen was actually linked to how sick with ME/CFS I became. Once I understood this about myself, so much of my life made sense! The illness, my toxic relationships, my lack of self value and compassion, the need to please everyone else and leave myself at the bottom of the pile.
So what is trauma?
Trauma isn’t necessarily a stressful experience or event that has happened to you, but the wound that you sustained as a result of that experience. It is what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you. The word trauma comes from the greek word “to wound”.
Trauma isn’t necessarily just big events like abuse, alcoholism and deaths- these can be called “big T trauma”, but there is also such a thing as “small t trauma” which can be seemingly insignificant events that build up- for example not being picked up enough as a child, not feeling heard, having to mask your inner feelings and being bullied.
Depending on your own personal tolerance for stress and how sensitive you are (hello to the highly sensitive beauties out there!) some small T traumas might be big T, and vice versa- it is ok and completely normal to have your own personal experience of an event or life.
It moulds and shapes our lives and we often develop coping strategies or protective personalities because of the trauma we have experienced.
Why could 2 people experience a similar “traumatic” event but 1 is left traumatised and the other isn't?
Trauma, especially PTSD and C-PTSD, develops when there is a lack of support after that event. Often if something traumatic happens, and you have people around you to help support you as you process what happened, it is unlikely that you will have longer term effects, such as chronic illnesses. However if you have experienced something upsetting or traumatic and nobody is there for you, or your feelings aren't welcomed- (who has been told to not cry when upset?) this will often lead to unhealthy coping strategies and develop into trauma.
How is this linked to chronic illness?
Either of the above trauma, left without support, will leave you suppressing parts of yourself, with unhelpful beliefs about your own worth, and protective personalities being formed. This suppression and inability to be your authentic self relates to your immune health- if you have poor boundaries, your immune system also has poor boundaries. I know myself when I was disabled from ME/CFS I felt like I caught every cold and virus going!!
The limiting beliefs, that may be very deep and not conscious, lead us to often being perfectionists, people pleasers, carers, and anxious people- and often ignoring our own bodies messages.
What happens when we chronically ignore what our body is trying to tell us?
Our body then has to find louder and louder ways to try and get those messages to you, if you ignore that little niggle, it turns into an ache, which then turns into chronic pain if it gets ignored for long enough. Something like glandular fever (in my case), covid, a stressful period in your life then comes along and can completely wipe you out- you might have been functioning well before, but after a virus or something stressful, you are struggling to even get out of bed. Which then leads to a deconditioning of your muscles, anxiety and depression- a mistrust of your body, and often not being heard and taken seriously by your doctor either. I see you- I’ve been there myself and there is a way out!
What helps trauma and chronic illness?
Compassion! Learning to be self compassionate, to listen to your body again and to feel safe, before we add any therapies or treatments on top. If you don't feel safe in your body and don't have any self compassion- it will be very difficult to make progress.
How can I heal my chronic illness?
In my personal and professional experience, there is no one size fits all, but there are a few fundamental foundational principles that all need to be looked at.
These are:
Finding safety in your body again, this can look like somatic movement, a yoga class you love, daily walks- basically a way to move your body that doesn't feel threatening or will trigger PEM
Mindset, this could be talking therapy, somatic therapy, coaching, journalling- a place to dig a little deeper and look at those limiting beliefs whilst building compassion towards yourself
Nervous system regulation- building on safety in your body and expanding your window of tolerance- how much stress can you comfortably and healthily manage?
Diet- looking at how you are fuelling yourself and potentially cutting out anything inflammatory or that doesn't promote healing
I'm Jenny and I'm a somatic coach that works with people with chronic illnesses like ME/CFS, fibromyalgia and long covid and I help you release trauma, heal holistically and learn nervous system regulation through the polyvagal theory. I've lived with ME/CFS and healed the long and hard way- you don't have to do it the long and hard way! I'm training with Gabor Maté who is a trauma expert.
If this blog has resonated with you and you’d like to heal from your chronic illness using the above principles, get in touch today to see how I can help.
Let me know below if you've learned anything new from this blog and if it resonated with you!
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