95% of our brain is unconscious and directs the function of our body based on its perception of immediate danger. It constantly interprets all of the information from the world and from nerves up from our body to decide if we are under threat or safe. Our brain bases this interpretation on our experiences and what it has ‘learned’. Our brain stores and remembers everything that happened that was unsafe and applies it to the current moment. This all happens away from our conscious awareness. So, we may not consciously feel afraid or stressed, but our unconscious brain can respond as if we are in danger, even though we are not. The response system was designed for a physical threat of harm with changes in our body to fight, flee, or freeze. However, our thoughts also trigger the same physical response, even though this is not helpful.

Our brain can interpret danger because of damage in our body but also because of thoughts, many of which are not in our conscious awareness. Whatever the reason danger is detected, the unconscious brain needs to communicate with our conscious brain to respond to the perceived danger. This communication happens through symptoms in our body, to alert the conscious brain that something needs our attention. Physical symptoms are the language between the unconscious and conscious brain.