Why Trauma Release Can Make You Feel Very Tired
Exhaustion after healing is not a setback — it’s your nervous system finally exhaling.
Something many people notice after EMDR, somatic work, deep emotional processing, or even simply speaking a long-held truth is:
“I feel so tired. I didn’t expect this.”
We often think of healing as energising — and sometimes it is — but, more commonly, the first stage of release is fatigue.
This can feel confusing, especially if the session felt meaningful or relieving.
But this tiredness is not a sign that things went wrong.
It’s a sign that your body is finally doing something it couldn’t do before:
Rest.
Your Nervous System Has Been in Survival Mode
When trauma happens, especially early in life, the body has to adapt to keep you going.
It does this by entering a survival state, driven by adrenaline and cortisol.
In that state, the system is:
Alert
Tight
Braced
Scanning
Ready
Even if you don’t feel stressed, your body stays prepared.
Holding that level of internal tension takes enormous energy.
When We Process Trauma, the Body Finally Lets Go
When we process trauma — whether through EMDR, somatic work, emotional release, or finally naming something that was never spoken — the nervous system shifts.
It moves from:
Fight/Flight → into Parasympathetic Rest
This is the body’s down-regulation phase — the moment where it says:
“The danger is over. I don’t need to keep holding this anymore.”
And that shift can bring:
Fatigue
Heaviness
Sleepiness
Emotional softness
Less focus or motivation
This isn't collapse.
It’s recalibration.
What’s Happening Biologically
During survival mode, the system runs on stress hormones.
When trauma releases, the body stops producing those hormones and begins restoring itself.
It begins repairing:
Immune function
Digestion
Hormonal balance
Emotional regulation
Muscle tension patterns
This repair work takes a tremendous amount of internal resources.
So your energy is temporarily redirected away from productivity, planning, thinking, or “keeping it together,” and toward healing.
Your system is literally saying:
“I’ve been holding this for so long.
Now that I don’t have to, I need to rest.”
This tiredness is a sign of safety returning.
This is Not a Regression — It’s Integration
Integration is the phase where the body reorganises itself.
Where new neural pathways settle.
Where the threat response switches off.
Think of it as the nervous system exhaling after years of bracing.
Rest is not something to push through.
Rest is part of the therapy.
How to Support Yourself During This Phase
This is a time for soothing, not striving.
Helpful supports include:
Extra sleep
Warm drinks (tea, broth, water)
Light, grounding meals (protein + cooked food)
Gentle movement (walking, stretching)
Reduced screen and noise stimulation
Space for quiet and stillness
Journaling or soft breathing if emotions arise
Your job isn’t to “bounce back.”
Your job is to let your body complete what it finally feels safe to do.
A Reframe
Instead of:
“Why am I so tired?”
Try:
“My body is releasing what it held for years. I am allowed to slow down now.”
Healing isn’t always dramatic.
Sometimes it looks like stillness.
Sometimes it looks like needing sleep.
Sometimes it looks like doing less — because your body is finally able to unclench.
This is what it looks like when the nervous system moves from surviving to living.
