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Whole Health Psychiatry
Trauma, Inflammation, & Mental Health
Chronic inflammation plays a powerful and often overlooked role in mental health, silently disrupting the brain’s chemistry, signaling, and capacity for resilience. It activates key inflammatory pathways, including nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and the NLRP3 inflammasome, which increase the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP). These immune messengers can interfere with mood-regulating neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, leading to symptoms such as persistent fatigue, low mood, brain fog, anxiety, irritability, and emotional numbness. Inflammation also impairs sleep, concentration, and emotional recovery—commonly misattributed to burnout alone.
For individuals with a history of trauma, abuse, or chronic stress, the body’s prolonged fight-or-flight response often contributes to this inflammatory state. Early life adversity has been shown to dysregulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increase cortisol variability, and prime the immune system for chronic low-grade inflammation—effects that can persist long after the threat is gone. Studies consistently link adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with higher levels of inflammatory markers and increased lifetime risk for depression, anxiety disorders, autoimmune illness, and cardiometabolic disease. In this way, trauma is not only a psychological event but a biological one.
The gut-brain axis adds further complexity. Chronic psychological stress, poor diet, and microbiome imbalances can increase intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”), allowing lipopolysaccharides (LPS)—toxins from gut bacteria—to enter circulation and drive neuroinflammation. This process disrupts neuroplasticity, reduces brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, and impairs cognitive flexibility and emotional regulation. BDNF is a vital protein that supports neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt, form new neural connections, and repair itself. It plays a key role in learning, memory, mood regulation, and overall cognitive function. BDNF also protects neurons from damage and supports the growth and survival of new brain cells. The result is a reinforcing loop between inflammation, trauma sensitivity, and psychiatric symptoms.
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​Fortunately, evidence-based therapies can help regulate both the brain and the body. Trauma-informed approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and somatic therapies have reduced limbic overactivation, strengthened the prefrontal cortex, and restored parasympathetic balance. CBT, for example, has been shown to decrease amygdala reactivity and normalize cortisol levels, helping patients reframe thought patterns while reducing physiological arousal. EMDR has demonstrated effects on hippocampal activation and connectivity between emotional processing centers, facilitating trauma resolution and emotional integration. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has also been found to lower pro-inflammatory cytokines and increase gray matter density in brain regions involved in emotional regulation.
When therapy and trauma processing are combined with other integrative mental health strategies—such as medication, targeted nutrition, supplementation, movement, meditation, and sleep optimization—these therapies support healing on multiple levels. Anti-inflammatory nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, magnesium, zinc, and methylfolate can further reduce neuroinflammation and support neurotransmitter synthesis. Together, these approaches create a synergistic path toward recovery—one that not only treats symptoms but also addresses root causes by honoring the profound connection between trauma, the brain, the body, and emotional well-being.
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