What happens to the brain after psychological trauma?

Many of us go through a psychologically traumatic experience at some point in our lives - perhaps a car accident, witnessing someone else being seriously injured or killed, or being mugged. Following a such an experience the brain becomes hypersensitive to any signs that the traumatic event might be about to reoccur. Your brain is a 'don't-get-killed' machine, focused on protecting you from any danger via anxiousness and fear, so any reminders that it associates with a traumatic experience may make you highly anxious.

For many people, strong emotions caused by a traumatic event settle after several weeks to a few months. However, for some people, they fall into chronic patterns of hypervigilance, irritability, anxiety, depression, and withdrawal.

If you've experienced a trauma and you've noticed that strong emotions, or flashbacks, aren't diminishing after a few months, see a GP who understands mental health issues for a referral to a mental health practitioner.