Trauma can alter brain function, leading to increased vigilance, defensive behavior, and a changed worldview, which is maladaptive in modern, longer lifespans.

“So the way that trauma can change our brains and stay with us in a way that says, be more vigilant, look at the world in a different way, act more defensively, right? And how that links to shame and to guilt, and then guilt in, guilt becomes what gets called feeling technically where we relate the aroused affect to ourselves, right? So, shame the aroused affect and guilt, the next step, right? When the shame gets related to self are such profound behavioral interventions and deterrents, right? That you can see, I think how evolutionarily kind of all makes sense if we're fighting for survival and we're an elder statesman if we make it to 20, right? This makes sense. But it doesn't make sense in a world where we live much longer, right?”