How Trauma Lives in the Body: Somatic Signs to Know
Trauma doesn’t always remain in mind, sometimes it turns up appearing as aches and pains, weariness. Here is the story of Aimen, a small village girl from Kashmir with lots of dreams. She'd been sick, really sick, ever since she was little, not with fever anyone could measure or a wound anyone could see but with pain that nobody understood. She was always fighting these all body aches. Some days it was an ache that dulled in the background, but at other points this pain reached a point so severe bad she thought it might be her last day of life. Although her parents were not well to do but they endeavored to treat her in every possible way. They loved their child unconditionally; they couldn’t see her suffer. “They went to all the doctors and even to some of the faith healers (here they are called as “peers” in their local lingo).When nothing worked out, they eventually decided to take her outside the state for the treatment. They took out a loan and set off on their travels with some hope and dread. Never did it differ with the doctor; always reassurance and disappointment. Docs said “its just general weakness, she will be fine” Give her nutritional supplements”. Doctors would recommend all of these, back to back, blood test, bone scans, whole body scans. The couple was surprised that all of the tests were normal. But Aimen was equally in pain. Day by day, she grew weaker. The physical suffering on a daily basis sapped my strength, making me dependent upon my parents for most aspects of daily life. She was no longer able to fend for herself in class and carry her school bag. Her mother accompanied her on the walk to school every day for those years to give her some support. Folks started inquiring; “What's wrong with her?”, “Why is she always sick?”. Aimen couldn’t speak and nor could her parents. Then one day, one doctor made one simple suggestion that very softly turned the lens through which everyone had been looking at her pain. He listened not just to her body but to her story. He had referred her to a psychiatrist, who read through well beyond the reports. And for the first time, someone could determine why she was in pain. Aimen had been experiencing trauma. The aches, fatigue, and the exhaustion were not all in her head. They were real. They were each her body’s means of compensating. In clinical terms, it's called somatization-when the trauma speaks through body." This is pain, the body has a different language.
What is somatization?
The term “soma” has been derived from a Greek word which means “body”. Somatization occurs when the emotional distress/psychological concerns show up in physical symptoms, like pain, exhaustion and headache. For example, someone who has lost a loved one may somaticize through physical forms like pain and severe fatigue. Somatic symptoms can range from severe forms like temporary loss of vision to milder forms like joint pain. Though there is no underlying cause but the symptoms are real. It is a symptom and not a diagnosis.
Several theories regarding somatization:
Biological Sensitivity: It may be that certain individuals are wired to experience more sensations such as pain or queasiness. Perhaps they are interpreting the sensations of illness in sickness to disease differently.
Trauma or stress: Research has indicated that those who have experienced trauma are more likely to somatize.
Unconscious: It does happen that at times the somatization may be used by someone as a defense to minimize the emotional stimuli.
Cultural Attitudes: In cultures where mental health disorders are looked down upon, somatization is seen as a more socially acceptable way to gain sympathy and understanding -as physical nightmare is easier to see and acknowledge than emotional pain.
Amiens’s story is a reminder that somatization is not a thing of the mind but an experience as real as the stars. This isn’t a bid for attention, but the body’s attempt to express emotional pain through physical symptoms. Creating the kind of environment that silences or invalidates people like Aimen can just make their pain manifest in other ways. What we require is compassion and understanding so that people are not embarrassed to get help early. Her story reminds us that getting the right treatment at the right time can change the trajectory of illness. Somatization reminds us of a situated trauma that does not disappear but metamorphosizes. When we discover how to listen to the body empathetically, when we enable stories like Aimen’s not to end in silence but in care and affirmation and hope.
An important takeaway: Seeking treatment for emotional distress is not a decision to be ashamed of, rather a decision to be proud of.
Reference:
GoodTherapy.org. (2019, July 26). Somatization: What it is, types, causes and therapy. https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/somatization GoodTherapy
Written By: Tazkia Zainab