PTSD & Other Conditions: Understanding the Whole Picture

 

Because the Body Keeps the Score

By the time I was 35, I had been diagnosed with endometriosis, multiple sclerosis, and migraine disease — three conditions that can all be triggered or worsened by prolonged stress and inflammation. In my case, it was growing up in a violent home as a child.  I didn’t struggle with a diagnosed mental illness, but I did meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We just weren’t talking much about that back then.

Looking back, I can see how my body had been carrying the burden of stress for years — long after the danger had passed. That’s the thing about trauma: it doesn’t just live in your memories.

It lives in your body.

PTSD & Physical Health Diagnoses

Research shows that up to 80% of people with PTSD experience chronic inflammation (Michopoulos et al., 2017). When we live through repeated or extreme stress, our bodies release pro-inflammatory cytokines — chemicals meant to help us fight infection. But when they stay elevated, they begin to affect mood, cognition, and immunity.

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