Why living in New York City can be triggering for trauma survivors
There are unique challenges when it comes to living in New York City while managing symptoms of PTSD — but therapy can help.
3 min read
The old adage is true, every New Yorker seems to have a therapist – for good reason. Between the overstimulation, lack of personal space, and professional grind, many New Yorkers benefit from a weekly space to discharge the build-up of stress that accumulates from everyday life. And yet for New Yorkers struggling with the after effects of a traumatic event, the stakes are even higher.
It comes as little surprise to many people that a person’s day-to-day environment can have a sizable impact on their overall sense of emotional wellness. Even pre-pandemic, individuals with symptoms of PTSD or trauma may have found it especially challenging to manage their symptoms in the most densely populated city in the country. Between the demanding and competitive pace of work, high rents that often make it prohibitive to live alone, and lack of personal space on subways and other public spaces, New Yorkers are uniquely prone to having symptoms of earlier traumas retriggered.
Some of the symptoms of trauma include hypervigilance, hyperarousal, constriction, dissociation, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. So it comes as no surprise that living in a bustling environment with endless stimulation can feel triggering and result in a trauma response. For example, day-to-day experiences like commuting, walking home alone, or leaving the home can feel threatening. An individual might begin to notice an automatic response that is more outsized than typical annoyance, like an exaggerated startle response or panic attacks.
“Living in a bustling environment with endless stimulation can feel triggering and result in a trauma response.”
Peter Levine, the noted trauma expert and founder of Somatic Experiencing, describes trauma as a “part of physiological process that has not been allowed to be completed.” As a result, a person will experience hypervigilance, a direct response of hyperarousal, which is a natural physiological response to an overwhelming experience that was too much, too fast, or too soon. Hypervigilance can become the way individuals manage the excessive energy that remains to protect themselves from the original threat. An individual might find themselves experiencing ongoing fear and paralysis, searching for a threat when no present one exists.
One of the ways that individuals can manage an overactive stress response is by regularly discharging the stuck energy from the original event, in a safe and healthy way. For example, yoga has proven to support individuals in tuning inward to notice the sensations inside and better notice what’s happening. Doing brief meditations regularly have also been proven to be effective. And, more immediately, individuals can begin to notice what sensations are happening inside the body when individuals start to notice a response like an increased heart rate and breathing, sweating or feeling of sudden heat, etc.
Sarah Shuster, a therapist at Downtown Somatic Therapy says that many clients first arrive at her office because their usual coping mechanisms have started to break down. Individuals can learn to self-regulate their nervous systems to manage the overstimulation in NYC. Shuster shares, “most of my clients have an initial hesitation about starting sessions by scanning the body and paying special attention to the felt sense of the body inside, including physical sensation, areas of disconnection, or heat.” But Shuster finds that “engaging with physical sensations inside the body creates the space to slowly start discharging pent up energy.”
“Engaging with physical sensations inside the body creates the space to slowly start discharging pent up energy.”
Five tips to keep in mind while conducting a body scan:
Begin by noticing any external sounds, the temperature in the space, the feeling of clothes on your skin, the feeling of the seat beneath you.
Then, bring your awareness inward, starting with the top of the head and gently work your way down paying special attention to physical sensations - these include areas of the body that feel loose and expansive, as well as areas that feel constricted or tight.
Deepen the sensation by asking yourself, “what sensation lets me know that I feel X (i.e. nervous)?” to help you arrive at the felt sense inside.
Stay with the sensation for a few moments, consider placing a palm at the area of focus and breathe into the area, noticing if the sensation gets larger or smaller.
End the body scan by bringing your awareness all the way down to your feet, feeling the rootedness on the floor.