Leyla Swan Psychotherapist/Counsellor

08/11/2025

29/10/2025

22/10/2025

08/10/2025

05/10/2025

Weird Trauma Symptoms That No One Talks About

Trauma doesn’t always look like flashbacks or panic attacks. It often shows up in the body and nervous system in surprising ways ⬇️

1️⃣ Seeing “shadow men” & bugs – hypervigilance primes the brain to detect danger, even when it isn’t there.
2️⃣ Random body pain – trauma stored in the nervous system can appear as pain without medical cause.
3️⃣ Sleep paralysis with shadow figures – the brain stays on high alert during REM sleep, creating terrifying visions.
4️⃣ Skin crawling sensations – often linked to somatic flashbacks, where trauma is felt through the nerves.
5️⃣ Sudden body jerks in sleep – the nervous system struggles to fully relax.
6️⃣ Sudden dizziness/vertigo – the balance system misfires under trauma stress.
7️⃣ Whole-body tremors – the body’s natural way to release fight/flight energy.
8️⃣ Random yawning or coughing – signals a vagus nerve “reset” as your body tries to calm itself.
9️⃣ Memory blanks / brain fog – when triggered, the brain shifts to survival mode and recall shuts down.

✨ These symptoms don’t mean you’re broken. They’re signs of a body trying to protect you. Healing is possible, one step at a time. 🌱

⸻

🔖 Hashtags

22/09/2025

14/09/2025

02/09/2025

31/07/2025

ℹ️🌿 INFLAMMATION AND THE BRAIN CHANGES OBSERVED IN COMPLEX POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER |

Contributing to the brain damage caused by trauma are the stress hormones that are released when we feel endangered, frightened, and alarmed.

One stress hormone is called Oxytocin and this chemical is vital for emotional regulation and is necessary for us to attach to our parents and connect with life partners. Without it, we would not form normal human relationships.

After being a victim of childhood trauma, a survivor’s brain will produce less Oxytocin, and this means they may experience dysregulation in our emotional attachments to others. This is true for both men and women who survived childhood trauma.

Read the Full Article: https://cptsdfoundation.org/2019/07/29/inflammation-and-the-brain-changes-observed-in-complex-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/



📷: Created by AI

25/07/2025

20/07/2025

Who is that phrase for?⁠
⠀⁠
"My parents did the best they could." is a non fault phrase that we as healers need to thoroughly examine. I see it as an idea that keeps people stuck.⁠
⠀⁠
Is it true? Was THAT their best? Did your toxic parents:⁠
⠀⁠
-seek help?⁠
-reflect on how things were going?⁠
-make brave decisions on your behalf?⁠
-leave abusers to keep you safe?⁠
-ask what their part in things were?⁠
-wonder why you were showing signs of trauma?⁠
⠀⁠
I call bullsh*t.⁠
⠀⁠
The phrase doesn't work for most of us, and I think it gets in the way of healing. It implies that had our parents been more informed, or had access to resources, things would have been different.⁠
⠀⁠
Narcissistic and codependent parents don't operate that way. ⁠
It's super generous to think they would.⁠
⁠
It's okay for both survivors and clinicians to hold toxic parenting accountable.⁠
⠀⁠
Accessing and processing anger, rage, grief, sadness and above all - the truth is how healing works. We don't stay in those feelings forever - we move on.⁠
⠀⁠
"They did the best they could"- is just like childhood, where we overly focus on the toxic parent and not OUR experience.