Episode 41: Solutions for Low Serotonin and GABA in Trauma with Trudy Scott

Listen to Episode 41 with Trudy Scott →

When Your Brain Chemistry Can't Support Your Healing

You're doing the trauma work and showing up for therapy sessions. You're practicing nervous system regulation and following all the guidance. But the anxiety never lets up and the depression won't lift no matter what you do.

What if the problem isn't that you're doing trauma work wrong but that your brain chemistry can't support the healing you're trying to do?

Low serotonin and GABA don't just create anxiety and depression. They make trauma symptoms worse and harder to manage. And trauma depletes these neurotransmitters further, creating a vicious cycle that traps you.

Trudy Scott joins me today as a certified nutritionist and founder of the Anxiety Nutrition Institute. We explore the complex relationship between trauma, neurotransmitters, and biochemistry that most trauma practitioners miss.

How Trauma Depletes Your Brain Chemistry

Trauma affects your brain chemistry directly by depleting serotonin and GABA over time. These are your calming neurotransmitters that help you feel safe, relaxed, and able to regulate. Without adequate levels of these chemicals, everything about healing feels harder than it should.

PTSD symptoms get significantly worse with low neurotransmitter levels beyond what trauma alone creates. Anxiety spikes higher and more frequently. Sleep disappears even when you're exhausted. Your nervous system can't regulate properly no matter how many techniques you practice.

When serotonin is low, you experience depression that won't lift, worry that spirals constantly, and obsessive thoughts that won't stop. Sleep suffers even more than trauma alone causes. Pain increases throughout your body. Your mood becomes unstable and unpredictable in ways that feel impossible to manage.

GABA functions as your brain's natural calming agent similar to Valium but produced internally. Without enough GABA, you feel physically tense all the time. Anxiety runs through your system constantly. You're unable to turn off your racing mind. Your body can't calm down no matter what you try.

The Biochemistry Most Trauma Work Misses

This isn't just about trauma therapy or nervous system regulation exercises. There's real biochemistry involved that affects whether your healing work can actually create change. Your brain needs specific nutrients to make these neurotransmitters in adequate amounts.

Understanding the Biology of Trauma® includes recognizing that nutritional biochemistry affects your capacity for healing. When your brain can't produce enough serotonin or GABA because you lack the building blocks, trauma work alone won't be sufficient no matter how good the interventions are.

Trudy explains how to know if low neurotransmitters are part of your problem through symptom patterns. Specific symptoms point to which deficiencies you're experiencing. Depression combined with worry and sleep problems suggests low serotonin. Physical tension combined with racing thoughts and inability to relax suggests low GABA.

Specific amino acids and nutrients can support neurotransmitter production when you provide your brain with what it needs. Targeted nutrition makes a real difference in how your nervous system responds to trauma healing work. This isn't replacement for trauma therapy but essential support for it.

Integrating Nutrition With Trauma Healing

You can't replace trauma healing with supplements alone because the stored trauma still needs addressing. But you can support your biochemistry while doing the nervous system work, and both matter for sustainable healing.

The integration looks like addressing nervous system dysregulation through trauma work while supporting neurotransmitter production through proper nutrition. Working with brain chemistry while healing stored trauma creates conditions where both interventions become more effective.

When your neurotransmitter levels improve, trauma work becomes more accessible to you. Your nervous system has more capacity to handle activation. Your brain can process emotions more effectively. Your body can regulate more easily with the support of adequate calming chemicals.

This explains why some people respond well to trauma therapy while others struggle despite good interventions. The ones who struggle often have underlying nutritional deficiencies affecting neurotransmitter production. Addressing both the trauma and the biochemistry creates better outcomes than either alone.

Trudy's work at the Anxiety Nutrition Institute bridges the gap between trauma healing and nutritional psychiatry. She helps practitioners understand when to refer clients for nutritional assessment and how to integrate both approaches for people whose anxiety and depression aren't responding to trauma work alone.

This Episode Is For:

✓ People with trauma and severe anxiety or depression 

✓ Anyone whose PTSD symptoms feel unmanageable despite treatment 

✓ Practitioners wanting to understand the nutritional biochemistry piece of trauma healing 

✓ Those whose trauma work isn't creating the expected improvement 

✓ Anyone suspecting biochemistry is blocking their healing 

✓ People ready to address both trauma and brain chemistry simultaneously

What You'll Learn

Listen to understand how low serotonin and GABA affect trauma symptoms and make healing harder than it needs to be. Discover what nutritional solutions can support your neurotransmitter levels while you do trauma work. Learn how to recognize whether low neurotransmitters are part of your struggle.

Your brain needs the right chemistry to do the healing work you're asking of it.

Listen to Episode 41 with Trudy Scott →

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.