Research Reveals Even Though Our Minds Forget Trauma the Body Won't - It Alters the ‘Biological Markers’
Some traumatic events have the power to significantly alter a person's life. Many of these cause a person to stay under significant stress for a long period. A team of researchers recently set out to understand how such traumatic instances impact a person in the long term, stated IFL Science. Findings regarding this analysis were published in the journal Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.
The study examined as its subject 60 survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, which happened in 1995. The objective was to understand the possible changes in the biological processes of these survivors. The team focused on three areas in their analysis: the autonomic nervous system, the inflammatory immune system, and the endocrine system. Results found changes in all three areas, which implies that even after the traumatic event concludes, the body remembers it. The study was the first of its kind as it examined long-term biological stress responses in survivors of a terrorist attack, taking into consideration three distinct physiological systems.
For the examination, the team compared the biological marker data retrieved from the 60 survivors with those garnered from 23 control participants, who reportedly did not experience any similar trauma. The markers included morning cortisol levels, cytokines interleukin 1-β (IL-1β), as well as interleukin 2-R (IL-2R), blood pressure reactivity, and heart rate. These cytokines are known to be associated with immune function. IL-1β facilitates inflammation in cells when the body faces sickness or injury; meanwhile, IL-2R activates T cells to help the immune system fight against infections and diseases.
The outcome showcased that the survivors exhibited higher IL-1β and lower IL-2R compared to the control participants. This implies there was inflammation, a consequence of injuries, and fewer T-cells that aid in healing. The team further noted that the survivors had higher resting diastolic blood pressure and lower morning cortisol levels.
The study also conducted interviews to understand the mental state of survivors and participants. Their answers indicated that both groups had similar scores for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. However, physical well-being was a weaker suit in survivors compared to participants. "The main takeaway from the study is that the mind may be resilient and be able to put things behind it, but the body doesn’t forget. It may remain on alert, waiting for the next thing to happen," said Phebe Tucker, M.D., lead author of the study and professor emeritus of psychiatry at the OU College of Medicine, stated Neuroscience News. "We thought there would be a correlation between these biomarkers and the research participants’ psychological symptoms, but their PTSD and depression scores were not elevated and did not correlate with stress biomarkers," she added.
The elevated IL-1β indicates that survivors of such traumatic events need more care and monitoring for a long time. These levels are high in individuals who are suffering from sickness, but the survivors in this study had no ailments. These results indicate that survivors of traumatic events like terrorist attacks should be monitored for a long time.
The results showed that even if the mind moves on from the trauma, the biological processes remain affected. "After you’ve experienced severe trauma, your biological systems may not be at a typical baseline any longer; things have changed," said study co-author Dr Rachel Zettl, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. "It’s not just our minds that remember trauma; our biological processes do, too. It changes your actual physical being."