Depression and trauma often go hand in hand, with one frequently fueling the other in a cycle that’s difficult to break. While depression is often seen as a standalone mental health challenge, for many, it is deeply rooted in past traumatic experiences—whether from childhood, loss, abuse, neglect, or other life-altering events. The emotional and psychological scars left by trauma can shape how we view ourselves, others, and the world around us, making it harder to escape the weight of depression. Understanding the link between these two can be the first step in healing, allowing individuals to confront both their emotional pain and the impact of past trauma in a more compassionate way.
What is Depression?
From a mental health perspective, “depression” is a combination of physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms that can manifest in a variety of ways. One core feature of depression is mood changes, marked by a low, down, or irritable mood. This is often accompanied by a combination of the following symptoms:
- Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, or emptiness
- Low frustration tolerance
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities
- Tiredness and lack of energy
- Anxiety, agitation, or restlessness
- Slow thought processes and/or slowed movements
- Feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and/or self-blame
- Sleep disturbances (sleeping too much or too little)
- Appetite changes (eating more or less than usual)
- Trouble concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things
- Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal thoughts
- Unexplained physical ailments, like headaches, muscle tension, back pain
Depression takes a big toll on our emotional and physical well-being. Simple, everyday tasks can feel impossible to complete when we are in a depressed state. Maybe you realize you haven’t done laundry in a month, gone grocery shopping, or changed our bedsheets and just the thought of these tasks feels daunting and overwhelming. Our bodies feel drained of energy and we lack the motivation to complete such tasks. Depression also makes us feel numb and disconnected from ourselves and others which often leads to withdrawing from others and isolating. Depression tends to grow and intensity in isolation.
What is Trauma?
What actually leads us to enter a state of depression and experience the abovementioned symptoms? One avenue to experiencing depression is living through traumatic events. One way to define “trauma” is any event that leads to a lack of felt safety, security, and connection in our environment. These can be “big” events such as fighting through a way, living through a natural disaster, getting into a car accident, or experiencing physical or sexual abuse. They can also be seemingly “small” interactions, like getting rejected by a peer, being yelled at or criticized by a caregiver, or experiencing a relationship or friendship breakup. These smaller interactions usually occur repeatedly and can therefore have just as much of an impact on us as the bigger events. Trauma can also stem from the things that we did not get during crucial moments in our lives, such as being left to deal with our emotions by ourselves or experiencing an absence of connection and affection from our caregivers.
These events trigger to the body and the brain “we are unsafe.” When we perceive a threat in the environment and feel unsafe, our bodies activate systems that will help to ensure our survival. Some common responses to traumatic events include fight (fighting off the threat), flight (running away from or avoiding the threat), freeze (shutting down or hiding from the threat), or fawn (appeasing the threat by comforting or becoming overly agreeable). When we are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events, these responses become automatic, engrained, and difficult to break. Being in a prolonged state of fight, flight, fawn, or freeze greatly shapes the way we view ourselves and interact with others. When we are constantly in these survival states, we are unable to respond in ways that feel genuine to who we are. This can lead us to push away or deny how we truly think or feel which creates greater disconnection within ourselves.
Depression as an Adaptive Response to Trauma
Depression can be viewed as a survival mechanism after a prolonged state of being in fight, flight, or fawn mode. Being in a chronic state of stress or overwhelm leads our nervous systems to shut down completely because it simply does not have the energy to continue fighting, fleeing, or fawning. The body will begin to shut down, dull the senses, and disconnect. This is adaptive for the following reasons:
- Emotional numbing: Moving into a depressed state shields the person from painful emotions and experiences that they did not have the capacity to process at the time that they occurred. That is, shutting down and going numb is our body’s way of coping with unbearable feelings.
- Avoiding further hurt: Withdrawing from others and isolating is our body’s way of attempting to avoid further hurt or harm, especially when the trauma we have experienced is relational. We may have learned over time that relationships are unsafe or always result in being hurt. When we are depleted of energy and cannot respond in our normal ways that protect us from getting hurt (i.e., people pleasing, constant arguing or fighting), we withdraw, isolate, and find it difficult to be around others.
- Replenishing energy: Following a traumatic event or after repeated exposure to trauma, our bodies shut down to conserve energy and are sending us the message to slow down, rest, and heal. When we feel disconnected and distant from ourselves, it serves as a signal that our pain can no longer be ignored and that our old ways of coping are no longer working. Honoring the rest our bodies are asking for is the first step in replenishing the energy needed to begin healing past trauma.
How to Get Unstuck
- Therapy: Working with a therapist can be beneficial in understanding the symptoms you are experiencing as well as what may be underlying them. Just as much of the trauma we experience is relational, so too is healing. Therapy can help you connect with and process emotions and experiences that may be underlying your depression. There are many different therapy modalities that target treating underlying trauma, including eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), internal family systems therapy, psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy, and cognitive processing therapy, and prolonged exposure.
- Social support: As mentioned above, social withdrawal and isolation is our body’s way of trying to protect us from further hurt or rejection. However, depression expands and breeds in isolation. Having at least one person who can provide you with emotional support is integral. Going opposite to urges to isolate and reaching out to supportive friends or family members can, over time, help you have moments of reconnection to yourself and others. Support groups are also a great way to build a community of others who are going through similar experiences as you.
- Creative outlets: Finding creative outlets to express our emotions is another way of breaking the depressive cycle. Creative outlets include journaling, art, music, dance, etc. These forms of creative expression allow us to understand, process, and expel some of the painful thoughts, emotions, or stories that we have been holding inside.
- Mindfulness and meditation: Trauma and depression lead us to withdraw away from ourselves and the world around us. Mindfulness and meditation practices help strengthen our ability to stay present and reconnect with our internal and external experiences. By noticing and observing our thoughts, feelings, and sensations, we are better able tolerate the discomfort and pain associated with them. Mindfulness can also help us connect with the external environment, particularly when we are in an environment that can be calming or relaxing. For example, mindfully sitting outside on a nice day can include you intentionally noticing what you see, hear, smell, and feel. This can help you reengage and connect with the outside world.
- Exercise and physical movement: Depression is our body’s shut down response which can lead us to be physically inactive and stuck. Finding ways to move our bodies can counteract this shut down response. This may be as simple as stretching or getting up to take a short walk. Ask yourself what you have capacity for and build from there.
- Practice patience and compassion: We may want to fight against depression, but it is trying to work for us by protecting us. Although this is easier said than done, practice patience and compassion as your body rests and heals. This will allow space for you to begin processing what lies beneath your depression.
Healing from unresolved trauma and depression is possible. Healing happens in small steps, the journey is not linear, and small wins represent progress. If you are experiencing depression that may be stemming from unresolved trauma, reach out for help today. Our team at Integrated Care Clinic is composed of mental health professionals who are skilled at providing trauma informed care to help you heal and reconnect with yourself and others. Tap here to reach out and start the process today.
