When the Breath of Life Becomes the Kiss of Death and Understanding the Chronic Trauma Response
- 7 hours ago
- 6 min read
Gilly Thomas is a leader in bodymind-body therapy. She is the founder of Somatic Affective Talk and Touch® and a practising bodymind therapist. Her book, Every Body Tells a Story, will be published in 2026.
What happens when the breath of life becomes the kiss of death? This is a philosophical question that arises from a reality we can all face, trauma. The breath, one of our adaptive responses to danger, can become a deeply entrenched response that makes us see catastrophe everywhere.
Breath becomes the kiss of death. What initially begins as a primal reaction that keeps us alive ends up robbing us of the enjoyment of life. It physically changes our brain and charges our body into a state of hypervigilance, then hypovigilance and numbness. The good news is that there are many ways to disrupt the chronic trauma response and return to a new normal of engagement in life. Somatic Affective Talk and Touch® is an effective and efficient method for restoration from the impact of trauma.
“Charlie’s story”: How trauma memory can be triggered
“The Last Kiss” is blasting on the radio. The sun is low. A Starbucks coffee mug is nestled in the car’s cup holder. Charlie sings softly, feeling sad as the words register. She sighs deeply and brakes for the stop sign. The car behind her is not slowing. Everything in her world slows down.
She brakes harder, willing the other driver to stop. She watches, as if from another place, as the red Porsche crashes into the rear of her Honda. The back of the car accordions up behind her driver’s seat.
Three days later, the phone rings in my office. The words tumble out, “Hello. Can you please help me? I was in a car accident. I wasn’t hurt, but I can’t get back into my body. I go to work and talk with people, but it’s as if I am not really there. I am driving a rental car, but every time I brake, I see the car behind me crashing into me. I smell coffee, and I freeze. I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m going crazy. Please help me.”
In the past 15 years, there has been a blossoming of new brain research, resulting in a deeper understanding of the mechanics of the trauma response. Physical traumas, such as motor vehicle accidents or surgeries, and emotional traumas, such as sexual or emotional abuse, all share a similar pattern. The human body and mind are complex and simple at the same time.
When a person is threatened, there is a specific sequence of events now known as the trauma response. A threat jumpstarts the body into a fight, flight, or freeze response. The limbic, or lower, brain is activated, hormones are released, and the body is primed to defend itself from danger. Animals in the wild are able to shake off the aftereffects of such a response and continue as though nothing happened.
Humans feel guilt, shame, and fear, and these emotions increase through mental rumination. The highly adaptive response to trauma becomes problematic when perception is shaped by past experience. Therefore, Charlie develops a heightened state of alertness when exposed to the twilight hour, musical riffs similar to those in “The Last Kiss,” the smell of coffee, and the action of braking.
The next time Charlie smells coffee, her heart starts to race, her breathing becomes rapid and shallow, and she spirals into a panic attack. She feels as though she is losing control and going crazy. In fact, her survival mechanism is functioning well. The limbic system, which is the primitive part of her brain, responds to keep her alive. It bypasses the logical and rational neocortex that likes coffee, which is the thinking part of the brain, and charges her body to respond to the perceived danger.
This all occurs on a subconscious level. Not only does the coffee act as an external trigger, or exteroception, but it also serves as an internal trigger, or interoception. Every time she applies the brakes, she feels anxious, and when the sun sets, she feels uneasy. Even when she is sitting at her desk and her muscles return to the same sitting position they were in just before the accident, her body responds to the perceived danger.
The chronic trauma response, or CTR, which includes fight, flight, or freeze, is exhausting. The trigger pathway into the CTR becomes a neural superhighway as triggers repeatedly send her into the same response. Because much of the trauma experience is subconscious and bypasses the part of the brain involved in speech, it is often impossible to put the trauma experience and its subsequent manifestations into words. Months or years after an event, she feels tired and numb, and hypoalertness becomes routine. This can lead to chronic symptoms for which there appears to be no solution.
Symptoms of the chronic trauma response (CTR)
Some of the identifiable central or peripheral symptoms associated with CTR include the following.
Physical symptoms, short term:
Headaches, backaches, TMJ, and pain
Trouble falling or staying asleep
General anxiety, inability to relax, and shallow breathing
Skin complaints and dermatological issues
Problems with the musculoskeletal, cardiac, and arterial systems and the lower gastrointestinal tract
Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia
Cognitive symptoms, intellectual:
Memory lapses and dissociation
Difficulty with focus and concentration
Emotional symptoms:
Anxiety and panic
Rage
Loneliness, grief, terror, and helplessness
Shame, despair, and guilt
Behavioural symptoms:
Avoidance and isolation
Substance abuse and addictive behaviour
Learned helplessness
Reenactments, or flirting with disaster
Self damage, including mutilation or injury
A one time trauma like Charlie’s accident is easier to remedy if it is identified and addressed early. If it is not dealt with appropriately, a chronic trauma response can develop. The functional response, which is instinctual and saves lives, becomes a destructive pattern. Over time, danger might be perceived everywhere.
People who have experienced trauma have their own triggers that can initiate a chronic trauma response. For example, if she did not seek help, Charlie would find no more enjoyment in feeling sad during a movie, drinking coffee, or even taking a deep breath, as these are her triggers.
A way to heal the chronic trauma response
Compassion, along with a deep understanding of the trauma response and powerful practices, can lead to healing and change. There are several psychosomatic therapies, such as Somatic Affective Talk and Touch® (SATT®), that work to decouple the neural superpathways formed by the trauma response.
SATT uses both touch and talk as profound ways to rebuild the neurological bridges in the brain. Healing transformation happens on more than intellectual and physical levels. A full body and mind shift can occur when the mind and body align. This rewiring makes it possible to live in the present moment without being triggered.
It was possible for Charlie to reintegrate into her body after only one session because she sought help so quickly. She was able to understand that the accident was in the past and feel that she was no longer in danger. Charlie could now relax and enjoy her life. She could safely feel sad, drink coffee, drive her car, listen to music by the Cavaliers, and enjoy the sunset.
The moments of freezing and dissociation were in her past, memorable but no longer governing her life. There is now evidence based data substantiating the effectiveness of touch, metaphorical dialogue, and interpersonal mindfulness, which are the foundations of SATT.
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Read more from Gilly Thomas
Gilly Thomas, Founder of Somatic Affective Talk and Touch
Gilly Thomas, CRS, BEd, BA, is passionate about the effectiveness of holistic healing - using interpersonal mindfulness, present touch, and guided talk. She is an empath and studied a variety of academic and practical programs to learn how to transform empathy into insight and purpose. Thomas created SATT®, which is a 2-year program to teach skills in interpersonal mindfulness, guided talk, and present touch. This program is beneficial for both individuals and professionals. Her upcoming book is a combination of philosophy, research, and client stories.
References:
Train Your Mind Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley, 2007
The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, MD, 2007
Gestalt Therapy by Nevis, 1992
Invisible Heroes by Belleruth Naparstek, 2004
Trauma and the Body by Ogen, Minton and Pain, 2006
The Listening Hand by Ilana Rubenfeld, 2000
The Body Bears the Burden by Robert Scaer, MD, 2001
