- Amygdala Activation
- Feeling unsafe, even if not in immediate danger, triggers the amygdala, the brain’s threat detection system.
- Past trauma can prime the amygdala to react strongly, sometimes to triggers that feel small or subtle.
- Survival Response
- Actual danger activates the body’s full survival system: adrenaline, cortisol, and the freeze/fight/flight responses.
- Strangulation or other life-threatening abuse pushes this response to the extreme, leaving lasting physiological and emotional imprint.
- Trauma Memory Blurring
- With trauma, the brain may struggle to distinguish past danger from present reality.
- If danger was “normal” in your past, even safe situations can feel threatening — the nervous system reacts as if survival is at stake.
- Key Takeaway
- These responses are normal, adaptive, and protective — they are your brain trying to keep you alive.
- Healing and therapy help the brain relearn safety, downregulate overactive threat responses, and reclaim control over your body and mind.
