Chronic stress and trauma can over-activate the threat response system, leading to symptoms triggered by minimal cues.

“We have a system that can generate threat responses. And in the case of trauma, PTSD, and extreme stress, chronic stress, that system gets ramped up so that it takes very little, maybe even just a memory or maybe even an association that we're not even aware of, our location trigger something, we're not even aware of it. And we start experiencing that symptomology.”