Does not register when and where, does not register the trauma has ended. The Hippocampus – The Time Keeper The Amygdala – The Alarm System This is the brain's instinctive survival system: the limbic system. It operates largely outside of conscious awareness, constantly scanning our environment for signs of safety or danger. As described earlier, when it detects a potential threat, the amygdala—often described as the brain's alarm system—rapidly prepares the body to survive b

How Our Survival System Normally Works The nervous system is designed to keep us safe. It constantly scans for signs of danger and, when it detects a threat, automatically activates survival responses such as fight, flight, freeze, or attachment behaviours. These responses are not conscious choices or signs of weakness—they are natural adaptations that have evolved to protect us. Understanding how the nervous system responds to threat can help make sense of trauma symptoms an

If you have ever wondered whether what you went through 'counts' as trauma, or why something that happened years ago still affects you today, this article is for you. Trauma is not just what happened to you — it is what happened inside you in response; an imprint left on both mind and body. Discover what trauma really means, the different types, and how it affects mind and body. Psychological trauma is the unique individual experience of an event, a series of events or a set