Our brain’s primary job is to keep us safe, and it does this by scanning for danger.

When the fight/flight/freeze pathway is activated, a cascade of changes happen in your body without any pause to think or evaluate.

Your brain knows that this is not the time to digest food, so it diverts blood flow away from the mouth, stomach, intestines, and bladder. You might notice your mouth going dry, a stomach ache, or urgently needing to use the bathroom. Instead, blood is going to the large muscles.

You might notice your heart beating fast, or blood rushing to your legs and biceps, making them feel heavy. This reaction helps you to respond to danger by having your muscles ready to fight or flee. Your muscles may tremble as they ready themselves or react to the stress hormones that are released. You hands may get cold and clammy, or you may feel hot and flushed.

Your thoughts might start racing to get you out of a tricky situation.

You may notice yourself breathing quick and shallow. Again, this is your brain trying to help get oxygen to your muscles as fast as possible.

While anxiety is a normal emotion that everyone feels on occasion, it can become a problem if your nervous system is reacting as though you are in constant danger.

At this point, anxiety can be so overwhelming that it interferes with daily life.

This is especially true if the anxiety is rooted in trauma.

Trauma-based anxiety - can be caused by any type of event that caused serious injury such as a wildfire, car accident, abuse, or violence.

Research has shown that witnessing violence can be as harmful as experiencing it firsthand.

No matter what the cause, trauma-based anxiety can impact your mental health in profound ways.

You may notice:

Nightmares
Intrusive thoughts or images
Avoiding triggers
Difficulty sleeping
Constant scanning for danger

If you would like support dealing with anxiety or trauma induced anxiety, reach out.

If you’d like to learn more about how witnessing domestic violence impacts children, check out this reference: Pingley, Terra. (2017). The Impact of Witnessing Domestic Violence on Children: A Systematic Review. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/ msw_papers/776