Trauma and Beyond Psychological Center

When our emotional life is out of balance or unregulated we often find ourselves repeating patterns that become self-defeating. These self-defeating patterns can leave us feeling anxious, unsatisfied, or depressed, and often lead to low self-esteem. We may feel shame, the feeling that something is deeply wrong with me or that I am defective, different, or not good enough. When these emotions are untreated we may isolate or seek relationships hoping they will make us better. We have found that generally when a person experiences different types of trauma, distress and dysregulation caused by trauma can lead to other manifestations of the pain including addiction, depression, anxiety, self-harm, and attachment difficulties. We may compulsively eat, use drugs or alcohol, spend, or over work. We may find we walk through life always ready for the other shoe to drop, full of tension and anxiety or even experiencing panic attacks. Or we may find that we have lost interest in things that once brought us joy and live our lives feeling sad or numb.