I have often been asked to explain something about body memories (or, as the professional community refers to it, somatic memory). Let's see if we can explain something about that in this article. First, a bit of terminology. The word "somatic" refers to the soma, the body. Somatic memories (body memories) are common in those who have experienced trauma. Science has demonstrated for us that trauma and abuse have a long-term physiological impact on our bodies as well as our minds.
In earlier articles we have talked about other types of memory - namely, explicit (declarative) and implicit (procedural) memory. It may be helpful to read "A Short Introduction to Memory Processes Parts I & II" if you have not already done so. In this article we'd like to emphasize the point that dissociation is often accompanied by more than just "perceptual" problems in the survivor of abuse. Abuse affects the physical as well as the cognitive (all forms of knowing - how we see, perceive, reason), whether it is remembered or not. "Somatic dissociation" (a term used by Scaer, 2001), is often a problem experienced in parts of the body (that is, other than the brain). Symptoms will often present themselves as physical problems that often cannot be explained by the usual means (lab tests, x-ray studies, routine examinations). These often fall into the category of stress or psychosomatic disorders. (For those of you who aren't sure what that means, the word "psychosomatic" refers to "Relating to or concerned with the influence of the mind on the body, and the body on the mind, especially with respect to disease;" (dictionary reference below). It does not mean something that is "only in your head" or is not a legitimate problem.
As we have emphasized before, trauma is a physiological as well as a psychological experience. "Even when the traumatic event causes no direct bodily harm, traumatic events exact a toll on the body as well as the mind," (Rothschild, 2000). Survivors typically report physical problems such as persistent headaches and migraine, abdominal tract problems (constipation, diarrhea, cramping, nausea), palpitations (racing heart), light headedness and dizziness, visual disturbances, hot/cold flashes (sweating, chills), TMJ (teeth grinding, jaw clenching), fibromyalgia, muscle spasms, tremors, sleep disorders, etc. The list goes on! The problem is that there is often no apparent "cause" as far as the physician can see, and the patient fears (with good reason) being labeled as neurotic or attention-seeking and not likely to be taken seriously. This is an unfortunate problem we hear about over and over again (from both the doctors and their patients)!
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