Autoimmune diseases affect millions of people. Learn how stress, trauma, inflammation, and nervous system regulation affect health and healing.
Autoimmune diseases are affecting the whole world. About one in 20 Australians have an autoimmune diagnosis, although it can be underdiagnosed. Globally, their prevalence is increasing by about 12.5 percent annually, making autoimmune disease one of the fastest growing health concerns.
Western medicine has historically emphasized treating the physical symptoms of autoimmune disease, often through prescription drugs. While medications provide pain relief to many autoimmune disease patients, new research suggests that we may be able to reverse and even cure autoimmune diseases. A key part of this approach for many people is improving mental well-being.
Why does inflammation get worse?
All autoimmune diseases involve inflammation. Inflammation is usually a short-term response to injury or infection, but when left untreated, it becomes chronic and attacks the body’s own tissues. This results in a variety of symptoms, some common to all autoimmune diseases, others specific to certain autoimmune conditions.
Autoimmune diseases tend to run in families, suggesting that they are hereditary and caused by genetics. But genes alone do not explain their development. For example, not everyone with a gene linked to celiac disease or Hashimoto’s will develop the condition. This is because environmental and epigenetic factors—diet, stress, trauma—affect whether these genes are expressed in a way that causes autoimmunity.
Dietary triggers such as gluten, dairy, and nutrient deficiencies (eg, vitamin D, B vitamins, and selenium) are well-documented risk factors. Other contributors include toxins, infections, smoking, and certain medications or forms of exercise. But these still don’t fully account for the rise in autoimmune diagnoses. But an important overlooked factor is stress and trauma.
When stress becomes biology
The landmark CDC-Kaiser Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study of more than 17,000 adults found that the more a person experiences early childhood experiences, including abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction, the greater the risk of developing chronic health conditions. Adults with multiple adverse experiences were 70-100% more likely to develop autoimmune diseases in the future.
One of the most obvious mechanisms linking trauma to autoimmunity is the regulation of the nervous system. Autoimmune diseases are especially prevalent in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and CPTSD, according to Dr. Seima Katrinli, an educator and researcher at Emory School of Medicine. CPTSD is often caused by small stressors that accumulate and can be considered mass trauma, especially in childhood, and tends to cause a greater dysregulation of the stress response than other mental health conditions.
This disorder is not only psychological but also physiological. Studies show that people with PTSD are 58% more likely to develop an autoimmune disease because the trauma changes the way the body works.
PTSD produces stress hormones that activate inflammation while suppressing the relaxing parasympathetic nervous system, particularly the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to most major organs. These changes push the body into prolonged fight, flight or freeze mode. One study found that suppressing the activity of the vagus nerve can increase immune function up to three times, while stimulating it reduces inflammation. This suggests that regulating the nervous system may be one of the most powerful tools we have for managing autoimmunity.
In chronic stress, this imbalance between an overactive sympathetic system and an underactive parasympathetic system can become self-limiting. The longer it goes on, the more likely it is to trigger an inflammatory cascade that leads to autoimmune disease.
But the relationship between inflammation and PTSD is not a one-way street. “It’s double-edged,” says Dr. Katrinli. Trauma can cause inflammation, and inflammation can increase vulnerability to PTSD.
For example, people with high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a key inflammatory marker, are more likely to develop PTSD after a trauma, even before symptoms appear. Social problems, low income, and poor nutrition can all raise CRP levels. This suggests that chronic low-grade inflammation may act as a primer that makes some people more vulnerable to developing PTSD.
Inflammation also interferes with neurotransmitter function. Dr. Katrinli explains that high levels of inflammation suppress the production of dopamine and serotonin—the brain’s feel-good chemicals. When these systems are dampened, people are more likely to experience low motivation, fatigue, and turn to compensatory behaviors such as emotional eating, drug use, or social withdrawal—all of which lead to increased inflammation.
This may explain why women are disproportionately affected.
Why women are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases
Women are two to three times more likely than men to develop PTSD and are nearly three times more likely to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. This is often attributed to hormonal factors, such as the role of estrogen in immune modulation, but biology does not tell the whole story.
Sociocultural pressures, particularly the expectation that women suppress difficult emotions, also increase inflammation. Emotional stress increases inflammatory markers, and when we are taught not to cry, complain, or fuss, these experiences don’t go away, they stay in the body.
For women and other marginalized groups, such as racial minorities, the combined weight of systemic stress and emotional silence can increase vulnerability to stress-related illnesses. As physician and trauma expert Dr. Gabor Mate states, autoimmune disease can be not only about what happens inside the body, but what the body has to survive outside of it.
From talk therapy to nervous system repair
This is leading to a fundamental shift in the way we think about autoimmune disease—not just as an immune disorder, but as one of physiological and emotional regulation. If inflammation and stress are linked, does treating the nervous system help? Some experts think so.
A growing body of research shows that therapeutic approaches that modulate the nervous system while addressing trauma can reduce inflammation more effectively and sustainably than drugs.
A 2020 review of 56 randomized clinical trials involving more than 4,000 participants found that psychosocial interventions improved beneficial immune function by about 15% and reduced harmful immune responses by an average of 18%.
These interventions can combine drug efficacy at a fraction of the cost with lasting benefit. The American Psychiatric Association now recommends psychotherapy and psychosocial therapy to support immune function in chronic illnesses.
One approach that shows promising results is Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapeutic model that helps people access and heal defensive or wounded parts of the soul. A 2011 study found that IFS not only reduced pain and improved physical function in people with rheumatoid arthritis, but also improved their mental health. These effects were still present one year later.
Physiologically, IFS replaces the nervous system itself. It decreases sympathetic activity (associated with the fight-or-flight state) and increases parasympathetic tone, the branch of the nervous system responsible for healing, digestion, and regulation. This shift from reactivity to acceptance may explain the sustained improvement in both mood and immune symptoms.
According to pediatric neurologist Dr. Jorina Elbers, who develops trauma programs for health care providers, families and first responders, this focus on regulation is critical. “Trauma causes damage to the nervous system before the immune system is damaged. Treating the nervous system can be an important step even before treatment begins.”
In other words, before we can process what happened to us, our body needs to feel safe again.
Training the nervous system like a muscle
So how do we do? to treat nervous system? One way passed biological return and other self-regulation tools that help people consciously change their physiological responses, such as breathing rate, heart rate, and emotional state, from stress to relaxation. Studies show that techniques such as guided breathing and virtual yoga can increase vagal activity, reduce anxiety and improve symptoms in conditions such as lupus, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Like strengthening muscles, regular exercise builds resilience in the nervous system and can regulate inflammation over time.
HeartMath, where Dr. Elbers works, has been researching biological methods since the 1990s. Their approach combines breath regulation, visualization of positive emotions, and internal state awareness to retrain the autonomic nervous system. Numerous studies show that this method can reduce inflammation, improve HRV, and improve quality of life in people with autoimmune conditions and stress.
“I’m interested in introducing regulation into the system as well as treating trauma,” says Dr. Elbers. “You need both.”
In other words, healing does not always begin with words. It starts with safety. And this safety often starts in the body.
Why can’t the injured medicine wait?
Despite growing evidence, trauma care remains underserved in health care settings. Although now common in education and child welfare, it is still lacking in clinical training and general practice. As a result, many autoimmune patients, especially women, struggle to find practitioners who recognize the connection between stress, trauma, and inflammation.
Working with a trauma-informed professional or body minder can make a significant difference. Look for someone trained in IFS, somatic therapy, or other approaches that support deep emotional work and nervous system healing. Ask if they have emotional regulation techniques and experience trauma and autoimmunity.
But you don’t have to wait for the system. Even without a diagnosis—or the right specialist—you can start supporting your nervous system today.
Here are three simple steps to calm your nervous system:
- Slow your breathing down to about six breaths per minute.
- Make your exhalation longer than your exhalation.
- Remember a moment of safety, love, or joy. Allow yourself to fully experience the sensations and emotions for a few minutes.
This simple yet powerful practice engages both breath and emotion and actively shifts your physiology toward calmness and balance. When practiced consistently, these moments of emotional safety help build resilience and lay the groundwork for deeper healing.
