Trauma Isn’t Stress — It’s Overwhelm in the Body
February 3, 2026
If you've ever felt exhausted, stuck, or unable to push through like you used to—this isn't about willpower. It's about your nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do to survive.
In this powerful episode of the Emotional Longevity Podcast, Dr. Elisha Goldstein sits down with Dr. Aimie Apigian—physician, trauma researcher, and author of The Biology of Trauma—to explore how unresolved stress and trauma don't just live in your mind. They become your biology.
If you've ever felt exhausted, stuck, or unable to push through like you used to—this isn't about willpower. It's about your nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do to survive.
In this powerful episode of the Emotional Longevity Podcast, Dr. Elisha Goldstein sits down with Dr. Aimie Apigian—physician, trauma researcher, and author of The Biology of Trauma—to explore how unresolved stress and trauma don't just live in your mind. They become your biology.
Dr. Apigian reveals the critical difference between stress and trauma, why your body shuts down when it runs out of energy, and how healing begins not by pushing harder—but by understanding your capacity and finding safety first.
From adverse childhood experiences to the science of emotional eating, chronic functional freeze, and why magnesium deficiency might be keeping you in overwhelm—this conversation is packed with insights that could finally help you understand why you feel the way you do.
🎧 In this episode, we explore:
✅ The real difference between stress physiology and trauma physiology
✅ How adverse childhood experiences become adult chronic illness
✅ Why your body creates drama and craves certain foods when overwhelmed
✅ The three states of your nervous system—and how to map them
✅ Why finding your current capacity matters more than building it
✅ How overwhelm changes your DNA and triggers inflammation
✅ The first steps to healing without going into overwhelm
⏱ Chapters:
00:00 — Rethinking Exhaustion and Overwhelm
03:00 — How Trauma Becomes Your Biology
08:00 — Adverse Childhood Experiences Explained
12:42 — The Difference Between Stress and Trauma
18:07 — Understanding Trauma and Depression
21:03 — The Shame-Trauma Cycle
24:03 — Recognizing Your Nervous System States
28:00 — Chronic Functional Freeze
32:01 — Creating Drama for Energy
36:00 — Emotional Eating and the Vagus Nerve
39:10 — Building Your Capacity Account
44:14 — The Role of Biology in Trauma
48:50 — Finding Your Current Capacity
54:08 — Making Life Smaller to Heal Bigger
56:00 — Releasing Blame and Accessing Curiosity
🌟 Learn more about Dr. Aimie Apigian:
Book: The Biology of Trauma — Available wherever books are sold
🌱 Explore Dr. Elisha Goldstein's Support Tools:
Connect with Dr. Elisha Goldstein