Trauma and the Brain: Making Sense of Why the Past Still Feels Present

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition that emerges after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Many people think of trauma in terms of immediate fear or distress. However, it can deeply influence memory, emotional control, and physical health long after the event has passed.

In this article, we will look at why trauma memories are so vivid and intrusive, what makes them feel real, and how therapy can assist in reorganising those memories for healing. By gaining insight into the brain's response to trauma, we can explore pathways toward recovery.

Understanding Trauma

Trauma goes beyond ordinary stress. While everyday challenges like work pressure or arguments with loved ones can be upsetting, trauma involves a threat to one’s safety or life. This might include events such as physical or sexual assault, accidents, natural disasters, war, or witnessing violence. Trauma can also include complex or ongoing events, like childhood neglect or abuse.

The effects of trauma can be both psychological and physiological. The brain and body respond to threats by activating the "threat system."

The Brain and Trauma: Amygdala and the Hippocampus

When you go through something traumatic, your brain reacts to keep you safe. Two key areas are involved:

• Amygdala (the alarm system): It detects danger and sets off the ‘fight or flight’ response. But it can’t always tell the difference between real danger and a painful memory—so it can go off even when you’re just thinking about what happened.

  
  

• Hippocampus (the memory librarian): This part stores and organises your memories. But when you're in survival mode, it doesn't work properly. It may forget to label memories with time and place, making them feel like they're happening right now—even if they occurred years ago.

  
  

This is why trauma memories can be so intense and feel out of place. Your brain didn’t store them like ordinary memories.

Properties of Trauma Memories

Trauma memories have unique features that distinguish them from ordinary memories:

1. Involuntary

Trauma memories often intrude into consciousness against one’s will. Even if a person tries to suppress or avoid them, the memories may be triggered by sights, sounds, smells, or internal sensations.

2. Now-ness

Many people with PTSD report that trauma memories feel as if they are happening in the present moment. This phenomenon, known as “nowness,” can be disorienting and distressing, especially during flashbacks or nightmares.

3. Sensory-Driven

Trauma is often stored in the body and experienced through the senses. Memories may include vivid sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or physical sensations linked to the trauma. These sensory experiences can evoke intense fear and emotional pain.

4. Fragmented

Unlike typical memories, which follow a clear beginning, middle, and end, trauma memories may be fragmented. Survivors might remember certain images or sensations vividly but struggle to recall the full narrative of what happened.

5. Vivid and Unchanging

Most memories fade with time, but trauma memories often remain intense and unaltered. Even years later, they can return with full force, triggered by an otherwise harmless cue.

6. Emotional and Physical

Re-experiencing trauma can provoke not only emotional distress (e.g., fear, shame, sadness) but also physical symptoms such as nausea, headaches, or rapid heartbeat. The body remembers what happened, even if the mind tries to forget.

Why Memories Return: The Battle Between Remembering and Avoiding

Trauma survivors often face an internal struggle: the desire to understand what happened versus the need to escape the pain. The mind instinctively works to process traumatic events but often faces resistance because revisiting the trauma brings back intense emotions and physical sensations. This creates a vicious cycle of avoidance and intrusive memories.

Recalling trauma can feel similar to experiencing it again. The brain struggles to categorize these memories effectively, leading to vivid recollections that evoke strong emotional responses. For instance, a survivor might hear a loud bang and feel an overwhelming surge of fear, as if the traumatic event were happening in real-time.

Avoidance, while understandable, often reinforces PTSD. It keeps the trauma unprocessed and maintains the belief that remembering is dangerous. Over time, even neutral cues—like a certain smell, date, or location—can trigger distressing reactions. This is why trauma treatment often involves gently confronting and making sense of the past in a safe, supportive environment.

The Linen Cupboard Metaphor: How Therapy Helps

A helpful way to understand PTSD therapy is through the linen cupboard metaphor. Imagine your trauma memories are like clothes stuffed chaotically into a cupboard. Every time you pass by, the door swings open and everything spills out—flashbacks, fear, physical reactions. You try to push the memories back in and shut the door quickly, but the mess remains.

Trauma therapy is the process of:

• Opening the cupboard slowly

• Taking each memory out carefully

• Examining it with curiosity and self-compassion

• Folding it neatly

• Putting it back in the right place

  
  

This helps your brain file the memories correctly so that they become part of your past—not your present. You still remember the trauma, but it doesn’t dominate your life anymore. Therapy gives you control back.

What Does Trauma Therapy Involve?

Effective treatment for PTSD is based on the understanding that the brain can heal—and that memories can be processed safely. Therapy typically includes the following elements:

1. Building a Toolbox of Coping Skills

Before working with trauma directly, therapy focuses on helping clients develop emotional regulation tools. This may include:

• Grounding techniques

• Mindfulness and breathing strategies

• Self-soothing practices

• Managing distressing thoughts and feelings

  
  

2. Understanding Cognitive Distortions

Trauma often distorts our beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world. Therapy helps you identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts like “I’m weak,” “I should have done more,” or “It’s my fault.”

3. Processing the Trauma Narrative

Once you have coping skills in place, therapy gradually introduces trauma processing. This may involve:

• Writing about the event (trauma narrative)

  • the facts

  • the thoughts

  • the emotions

• Using exposure techniques to reduce fear around trauma reminders

The goal is not to relive the trauma, but to make sense of it. When you understand the story—and your reactions—it loses power over you.

Conclusion: Healing Is Possible

Trauma leaves a deep imprint on the brain and body, but it doesn’t have to define your future. Understanding how PTSD works—and why trauma memories stick—is a powerful first step in reclaiming control over your life.

With the right support, therapy can help you make sense of the past and restore a sense of safety.

You are not broken. Your brain did exactly what it needed to do to survive. Now, you have the opportunity to help it heal.