Short answer? Yes.
But knowing that it does isn't sufficient. What we need to understand is how does this happen.
First, a disclaimer:
This infographic is an oversimplifcation of the complex process that take place in the bi-directional relationship between traumatic stress and inflammation.
Now to dive a bit deeper:
When you see the first graphic, I hope you can see how the threat response (which can start as something external like birth trauma, surgery, car accident, etc.) often evolves to including internal sensations.
Meaning, eventually the very body that we are living in can trigger ourselves to stay in a threat response. This perpetuates the very symptoms that we're trying to address (e.g. joint stiffness, autoimmune disorders, chronic pain, etc.) with all the tools in our toolbox (like diet, exercise, supplements, and sleep hygiene.)
If you're shocked, I get it. We don't talk about our body becoming what keeps us in our threat response. Not in this way. Because it's not fun to talk about. Yet, it's too important to me to show you that relief is possible, even if it means saying things that are hard to hear. Next...read this:
This graphic shows that the connection between stress, inflammation, and chronic illness often converge in the central and peripheral nervous systems.
This is important because it higlights what I say frequently: siloing aspects of our bodies and health will always be incomplete.
Meaning, only addressing inflammation from a gut health/diet perspective or only addressing traumatic stress from a mental health perspective will always leave gaps in your care and create a ceiling for how much better you can feel.
The truth is: When one system of our body is dysregulated or functioning in our threat response, all systems of our body are operating in survival.
I know...another unpopular fact that we don't like to talk about on social media where we just want to learn the 5 step process to...
Given all of this
I hope you can see why including the central and peripheral nervous systems must be part of addressing inflammation that is at the root of many health conditions we see today.
Also, because we've called out the peripheral nervous system a couple of times now, I hope you can see how that means it's SO much more than "managing stress" or deep breathing.
It has to involve our movements, our posture, our motor neurons, in addition to our sensory system.
This is far more nuanced than most "stress management" advice people get when we're trying to everything we can to manage our inflammation and it's not idyllicly responsive to whatever we're already trying.
I realize this can feel overwhelming when you hear about all of the aspects of inflammation reduction that probably have never been discussed with you before.
The good news...
I live for this stuff. This comes as easily to me as breathing so helping you with this is not only easy for me, but so, so fun!
So when we work together, you know you're getting expert guidance from someone who LOVES this work as much as she loves her British crime dramas.
Seriously though, we're 2+ years in a global pandemic. Most people are operating in a body with stress-induced chronic inflammation, which underlies many chronic illnesses.
This stress-induced chronic inflammation just cannot be addressed sufficiently with diet alone. That's not my opinion, it's a physiological fact.
This is why I created Soothe: Inflammation and why it is designed the way that it is:
In Soothe: Inflammation, we take an integrative, neurobiological approach (based in somatic healing and psychoneuroimmunology) to reducing inflammation so you can support your body to be in a state that doesn't need to create a stress-induced inflammatory response to begin with.
Join us today, and let's round out your efforts for inflammation reduction so you can feel your best to enjoy the life you're building for yourself.