Trauma is not just something that happens to us; it lingers in the body and shapes how we perceive reality. When trauma remains unresolved, it distorts our ability to interpret the world accurately. It alters our sense of safety, trust, and connection with others, often leading to biases and maladaptive coping mechanisms that reinforce our pain.

Understanding how trauma impacts perception requires looking at key processes in the body and brain: interoception (our ability to sense internal bodily states), neuroception (our subconscious detection of safety or danger), and gamma bias (a cognitive distortion that reinforces negative perceptions about certain groups). When trauma remains unprocessed, it can lead to profound misinterpretations of the world, including an aversion to certain groups of people.

Media Reinforcement of Trauma-Based Distortions

Unresolved trauma does not just shape individual perception—it also plays out on a societal level, particularly in the media. News outlets, social media, and entertainment often reinforce cognitive distortions like gamma bias and selective attention, amplifying fear-based narratives. People are frequently portrayed through skewed lenses, with some groups receiving heightened focus in negative contexts while others are framed with more sympathy. Trauma-laden stories are selectively reported, creating a false sense of widespread danger or division. Social media algorithms further entrench these biases by feeding individuals content that aligns with their existing fears and perceptions. This media-driven distortion not only deepens mistrust between groups but also reinforces trauma responses, keeping individuals and society trapped in cycles of hypervigilance, fear, and resentment.

The Distorted Lens of Unresolved Trauma

1. Trauma and Interoception: Losing Touch with the Self

Interoception is our ability to perceive and interpret internal bodily sensations. This includes recognising hunger, fatigue, pain, or emotional states like anxiety and calmness. Trauma disrupts interoception, making it difficult for individuals to distinguish between real and perceived threats.

For example, someone who has experienced severe trauma may experience chronic bodily tension, hypervigilance, or gut discomfort without consciously linking it to past experiences. Their body remains in a state of threat detection, causing misinterpretations of their environment. A neutral touch might feel threatening, or an ordinary social interaction may be perceived as dangerous. This internal confusion can lead to avoidance behaviours, difficulty with intimacy, and even physical health issues like chronic pain or digestive problems.

2. Neuroception: When the Brain Mistakes Safety for Danger

Neuroception refers to the nervous system’s automatic ability to detect safety or threat in our surroundings. This process occurs below conscious awareness, meaning that even if someone logically knows they are safe, their nervous system may still react as if they are in danger. Unresolved trauma can result in faulty neuroception, where the world is perceived through a lens of danger. Someone who has experienced betrayal or violence may instinctively see others as threats, even when no danger is present. This can manifest as a deep distrust of certain groups, not because of rational reasoning but because the nervous system has learned to associate them with harm.

3. The Role of Gamma Bias: Reinforcing Negative Perceptions

Gamma bias is a cognitive distortion in which people interpret information in a way that reinforces their existing beliefs, particularly about social groups. This bias can intensify after trauma, especially if the trauma was inflicted by a member of a specific group.

For instance, if someone has been harmed by another individual, unresolved trauma may lead to a strong negative bias against people who share characteristics with that individual. Their nervous system, primed by past pain, may perceive similar individuals as unsafe or aggressive, even when no real threat exists. This is not a conscious decision but a protective mechanism. Similarly, if someone has experienced emotional harm, they may develop deep resentment or mistrust, filtering their experiences through a lens of past pain.

Gamma bias reinforces these perceptions by selectively focusing on confirming evidence while ignoring counter-evidence. This can create a cycle where every negative interaction is interpreted as proof of inherent danger, while positive interactions are dismissed as exceptions.

Breaking Free: Healing and Rewiring Perception

If unresolved trauma distorts perception, healing allows us to see the world more accurately. This process involves:

1.      Restoring Interoception:

Practices like mindfulness, breathwork, and somatic therapy can help reconnect with bodily sensations and learn to distinguish past trauma from present reality.

2. Recalibrating Neuroception:

Safe relationships, trauma therapy (e.g., EMDR, somatic experiencing), and nervous system regulation exercises can help the brain differentiate between real and perceived threats.

3. Challenging Gamma Bias:

Actively seeking balanced perspectives, engaging in positive interactions with different groups, and working through trauma narratives in therapy can help break the cycle of distorted thinking.

Conclusion

Unresolved trauma traps us in a distorted reality, influencing how we see ourselves, others, and the world at large. Whether through disrupted interoception, faulty neuroception, or cognitive biases like gamma bias, trauma survivors often navigate life through a lens of past pain. However, with healing, it is possible to reclaim a clearer, more balanced perception—one that allows for connection, trust, and a fuller experience of life beyond the shadows of trauma.

References:

• Craig, A. D. (2009). How do you feel—now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(1), 59-70.

• Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

• Freyd, J. J. (1996). Betrayal trauma: The logic of forgetting childhood abuse. Harvard University Press. • Porges, S. W. (2004). Neuroception: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. Zero to Three, 24(5), 19-24.

• Seager, M., Barry, J. A., & Sullivan, L. (2021). The theory of gamma bias: How male gender blindness affects the treatment of men and boys. New Male Studies, 10(1), 1- 20.

• Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures. Guilford Publications.

• Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131.

• Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books.