Episode 39: How Does Trauma Manifest in the Body with Gabor Maté

Listen to Episode 39 with Dr. Gabor Maté →

When Your Body Forces What Your Mind Denied

You've had chronic pain for years without clear medical cause. You've developed autoimmune conditions that seem to appear randomly. You've experienced physical breakdown that doesn't match your lifestyle or genetics.

Doctors run tests and prescribe treatments but nothing addresses why your body keeps breaking down. They treat symptoms without asking what your body is trying to communicate through those symptoms.

Unresolved trauma doesn't stay in your mind but shows up in your body. As physical symptoms that persist. As disease that develops. As breakdown that forces attention.

Dr. Gabor Maté joins me today as a leader in understanding how the body expresses stress and trauma. He's a family physician who worked in palliative care and addiction medicine. He's the author of When the Body Says No and The Myth of Normal. And he wrote the foreword to my book, The Biology of Trauma.

How Trauma Creates Physical Disease

Your body doesn't separate emotional experience and physical health the way medicine tries to. Unresolved trauma creates real physiological changes that affect every system. Real symptoms emerge from this biology. Real disease develops from chronic dysregulation.

When you can't process or express trauma emotionally, your body expresses it for you through mechanisms you can't control consciously. Through pain that won't resolve. Through illness that doctors can't explain. Through breakdown that forces you to stop and pay attention.

Dr. Maté's clinical observations from palliative care to addiction medicine reveal the body-trauma connection repeatedly. The patterns are undeniable across different populations and different conditions. The physical manifestations are consistent enough to reveal the underlying cause.

His book title When the Body Says No captures this perfectly. Your body will say no to continuing as you have been even when you consciously won't. It forces attention through symptoms you can't ignore anymore, through illness that disrupts your life, and through breakdown that makes continuing impossible.

The Addiction-Trauma Connection

Addiction is often trauma trying to find relief through external means. The body seeking regulation through substances when internal regulation feels impossible. The nervous system attempting to manage activation or shutdown through whatever works temporarily.

Understanding the Biology of Trauma® reveals why addiction and trauma are so intertwined. Your nervous system becomes dysregulated from trauma. You discover substances or behaviors that temporarily regulate your system. You become dependent on those external regulators because your internal capacity never developed or got damaged.

Dr. Maté's work with addiction in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside showed him repeatedly that addiction isn't about the substance but about pain seeking relief. Not moral failure but biological dysregulation seeking any available solution. Not weakness but trauma expressing itself through whatever brings temporary peace.

When you grasp how your physical symptoms connect to unresolved trauma, everything shifts in your healing approach. You stop fighting your body as if it's betraying you. You start listening to what it's trying to communicate through symptoms. You recognize that breakdown is communication rather than failure.

Starting With Compassion

Where do we actually start when we understand this connection? With compassion for what your body has been carrying without support for so long. With understanding that symptoms are communication rather than inconvenience or failure. With honoring the biology underneath the symptoms instead of just suppressing what emerges.

Physical symptoms need honoring rather than overriding or ignoring. Your pain carries information about what hasn't been processed. Your illness signals nervous system dysregulation that needs addressing. Your breakdown reveals capacity that's been exceeded for too long.

Understanding the connection is step one toward healing that addresses root causes. When you recognize that your chronic condition connects to stored trauma, you can finally address what's been driving the symptoms. When you see your body's breakdown as communication, you can respond appropriately rather than just suppressing the message.

Dr. Maté emphasizes that healing requires addressing trauma alongside treating physical disease. You can't separate the two because your body doesn't separate them. The Biology of Trauma® approach integrates this understanding by working with both nervous system healing and physical symptom support simultaneously.

Starting in the right way means not just jumping into trauma processing but creating safety first, building capacity gradually, addressing physical symptoms while working with emotional roots, and honoring your body's wisdom about what it needs and when.

This Episode Is For:

✓ People with chronic physical symptoms and trauma history 

✓ Anyone whose body keeps breaking down despite medical intervention 

✓ Practitioners wanting to understand the trauma-disease connection from a leading expert 

✓ Those with autoimmune conditions or unexplained chronic illness 

✓ Anyone recognizing the connection between their trauma and their health 

✓ People ready to listen to what their body is trying to communicate

What You'll Learn

Listen to hear Dr. Gabor Maté explain how unresolved trauma manifests physically in the body and why understanding this connection is essential for profound healing. Discover the patterns he's observed across palliative care and addiction medicine. Learn where to start when you recognize your physical symptoms connect to stored trauma.

Your body has been trying to tell you something important through those symptoms.

Listen to Episode 39 with Dr. Gabor Maté →

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.

Join the Conversation

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?

Please keep comments respectful and supportive. This is a community of people committed to healing. We welcome diverse perspectives and honest questions, but we don't tolerate personal attacks, spam, or content that could harm others on their healing journey.