How complex trauma, chronic stress, and AuDHD can impact the brain and body
I often use the term "bautie", and recently realized I've never actually talked about what it means to me.
Bautie is a play on words representing the many ways in which complex trauma and chronic stress can impact our brains and bodies.
Although the mechanics and physiology of our bodies will certainly differ, if you're here, one thing we likely have in common is they've been impacted by complex trauma, chronic stress, and possibly neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD - which are their own cans of worms, if you will.
The impacts of chronic stress and complex trauma are vast, and often interlinked with one another.
Negative Impacts of Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is prolonged; it has been and/or will be present for unforeseeable past and/or future.
chronic inflammation
damages blood vessels/linings
gastrointestinal issues
headaches
impaired memory
impaired metabolism
increased blood pressure
increased insulin resistance
increased risk of heart attack
increased risk of CVD*
increased risk of kidney disease
increased risk of osteoporosis
increased risk of stroke
increases aldosterone
increases cortisol
reduces dopamine production
reduces hippocampus
reduces immune function
reduces serotonin
reduces sleep/quality
reproductive & menstrual issues
Negative Impacts of Acute Stress
Acute stress is present for a specific duration; can be foreseen or unforeseen.
increased adrenaline
increased alertness
increased blood pressure
increased breathing
increased heart rate
increased noradrenaline
reduced kidney function
rising blood glucose
slowing digestion
It's important to note that complex trauma changes the brain until it's healed, which technically means the brain is divergent from a "normal" brain - or neurodivergent.
Also important to note that neurodevelopmental disorders like Autism and ADHD cannot be healed, only managed for quality of life.
In addition to the "standard" ways stress and trauma can impact us physiologically, the way we experience stress and our triggers may also vary due to differences in our brains like autism, ADHD, and accumulated complex trauma. Here are a few images from a somatic release presentation I did back in January 2024 to show some neurological factors that can impact our stress experience.
As you can see from some of these differences, this is why much of the "normal" stuff doesn't work for us when it comes to somatic release and processing through (emotional) dysregulation.
By the way, I'm doing a similar presentation again, but as a workshop - details here!
My brain and bautie will always function differently, so it's about acknowledging and working with that instead of against it.
Three specific examples of how this plays out for me:
I will never be able to do a pull-up regardless of how strong I am because my hypermobile body is simply not built to get there - and that's okay.
I will never be able to force myself to eat things "for my own good" if they're not good because of my sensory issues with food, OCD, and ARFID will quite literally not allow it - and that's okay because fed is best.
It will always require more energy resources to complete "regular" daily tasks because of my executive functioning issues.
I will always need to consciously work on getting out of my brain to get back into my bautie, which is my key to somatic release... it just literally cannot happen when I'm frozen or told to "sit quietly with my thoughts" - and that's okay.
So when I use the term bautie, I'm referring to those of us who need more than "typical" solutions/advice usually offer us. We're complex and complicated and... that's okay.
We need understanding and release that is safe and rooted in acknowledgement and acceptance rather than goals of being... well... typical.
At the end of the day, the only thing I want is for us to be safe, comfortable, and content in our bauties.
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