Traumatic events push the nervous system outside its ability to regulate itself. For some, the system gets stuck in the “on” position, and the person is overstimulated and unable to calm. Anxiety, anger, restlessness, panic, and hyperactivity can all result when you stay in this ready-to-react mode.
After a traumatic event, the nervous system can pick up on more cues than ever in a person's environment, and people can see danger in everything. This is known as hypervigilance, in which people are more alert about their surroundings. It can cause many physical and mental symptoms, including: Sweating.
Traumatized individuals have an extreme mistrust of the Arousal Cycle. As they are reminded of the traumatic experiences that they have gone through, feelings of fear and frustration begin to smother and overwhelm them.
Someone with PTSD may be very anxious and find it difficult to relax. They may be constantly aware of threats and easily startled. This state of mind is known as hyperarousal.
A 2021 study in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that hypersexual behavior may be a reaction to past trauma, and that it's linked to post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
People also often feel tremendous guilt or shame in line with their trauma, which can promote hypersexual behavior. Sex, in this case, can be seen as a coping mechanism used to manage the symptoms of PTSD.
Hyperarousal is a core symptom of PTSD, with at least two hyperarousal symptoms being required for a diagnosis. Hyperarousal symptoms include irritability or aggression, risky or destructive behaviour, hypervigilance, heightened startle reaction, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty sleeping.
Hyperarousal is a severe symptom of PTSD, a disorder which can dramatically change your life. Your fight-or-flight response is perpetually turned on, and you are living in a state of constant tension.
Mindful breathing, meditation and exercise are all methods you can try now to mitigate the effects of an overactive nervous system. If you choose to work with a therapist for assistance, they might use their knowledge of polyvagal theory to bring your body back to its natural state of healthy homeostasis.
Ever since people's responses to overwhelming experiences have been systematically explored, researchers have noted that a trauma is stored in somatic memory and expressed as changes in the biological stress response.
Anxious arousal: Cognitive functioning, such as the ability to concentrate and control thoughts, is impaired. Physical symptoms include a racing heart, sweating, and feeling stressed. “People say things like 'I feel like I'm losing my mind,” Williams says. “They can't remember from one moment to the next.”
Trauma can affect sexual desire in a myriad of ways. For some, it can cause both hypersexual and hyposexual behaviors. The ways that it impacts sexual desire are based on the person's response to and type of trauma experienced.
There are many factors that can influence each person's optimal arousal levels, including genetics, experience, and current mood. Your arousal preferences, in general, may be specified by your genetic makeup, but environmental factors can also play a role in how you are feeling at any given moment.
Although clinical reports generally link anxiety to impaired sexual arousal, laboratory studies suggest that, under certain conditions, anxiety may facilitate genital sexual arousal responses.
Psychological characteristics of arousal include feelings of vigor, energy, and tension. Physiological symptoms of arousal include increased heart rate and blood pressure, among other changes.
The causes of hypersexual behaviour are not well understood. However, sex addiction and hypersexuality may sometimes be caused by traumatic experiences, distress, or by mental illness, such as bipolar disorder. Adults who have been sexually abused as children may display increased sexual behaviour.
Feeling dissociated or disconnected from the body is common for sexual trauma survivors to experience during intimacy. It can happen occasionally or be a long term symptom the survivor struggles with. Many survivors experience dissociation during sexual trauma.
The normal healing and recovery process involves the body coming down out of heightened arousal. The internal alarms can turn off, the high levels of energy subside, and the body can re-set itself to a normal state of balance and equilibrium. Typically, this should occur within approximately one month of the event.
Emotional information is stored through “packages” in our organs, tissues, skin, and muscles. These “packages” allow the emotional information to stay in our body parts until we can “release” it. Negative emotions in particular have a long-lasting effect on the body.
Responses to trauma can last for weeks to months before people start to feel normal again. Most people report feeling better within three months after a traumatic event. If the problems become worse or last longer than one month after the event, the person may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).