After trauma, our brains change, interacting with our nervous system in new patterns. Depressive responses are all but inevitable. Feelings of threat remain near the surface, with the stress hormone cortisol released on a hair trigger. Following a situation of extreme helplessness, we can lose our fight-or-flight instinct: adjusting to the reality that episodes of violation are inevitable, we give up trying to avoid them. Often, we seek them out instead. Repeating dangerous experiences of the past, in an unconscious attempt to fix them.
