08/24/2026
TRAUMA SYMPTOMS ONCE ADULT
Her nervous system now equates self-isolation and being alone with safety and predictability.
But her nervous system is actually in a freeze response, where she shuts down numbs and self isolates as much as possible in response to stress.
And as an adult, she appears quiet and calm, but internally, she's flooded with suppressed emotion and unmet needs.
She notices how other people seem to belong to each other, but she feels like she's hovering outside, just watching.
And as she continues to self-isolate, her nervous system gets even more deregulated, and she feels stuck disconnected and immobile with no energy to change it.
And because she was left alone to regulate for so long, her self-isolation has become silent suffering keeping her and her life small and stuck.
She seems like she's busy, but ultimately what she feels is empty and disconnected.
Disconnected from her loved ones, disconnected from what she used to love doing, and disconnected from herself.
But she still in survival mode with her nervous system.
She's exhausted all the time.
She lays motionless for hours on end. She can barely get out of bed and she's clenching her jaw right now.