Austin Korner

Biomedical Science and Health Psychology

Academic Advisor: Scott Millen PhD, David C. Kammler PhD
Co-op Advisor: Beth Bridgeman

Co-ops: Antioch College Admissions Assistant, Ria Health Medical Assistant, Antioch College Student Success Services Assistant
Additional Campus Involvement: Space Coordinator, Resident Assistant, College Council Student Representative, Community Manager

Languages: Spanish

City:  Tacoma, Washington

Email: austintkorner@gmail.com
 

The Long-Term Cognitive and Physical Health Effects of Trauma on the Human Body

The goal of this literature review is to explore various aspects of psychological trauma and how it can affect the human body. Trauma is the body's response to a detrimental event or situation that compromises a person's sense of safety, often having lasting adverse effects. Trauma can cause overwhelming emotionally painful feelings that can negatively impact a person’s emotional and physical well being. There are many risk factors that can lead a person to develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) such as frequency of trauma, severity, family history, and genetics. Typical treatments for PTSD include medications and psychotherapy; more recently, psychedelic therapy is being re-explored with promising results. This paper will describe the biology of a psychological trauma response and the way sensory inputs are related to hormone releases. While those releases provide short term benefits, chronic exposure to these hormones can lead to negative physical and cognitive effects over time.