Time Doesn't Heal: What 20 Years of Research Actually Shows

We've been told time heals all wounds. Go back to work. Stay busy. But what if decades of stress are still rewriting the body right now? Dr. Karestan Koenen, a Harvard researcher who has followed 100,000 women over twenty years, shares what she's discovered about how unaddressed trauma doesn't fade—it becomes biology. In this conversation, we explore why major disease studies have ignored trauma, how stalking affects women's heart health, and what epigenetics reveals about catching these changes early.

In this episode you'll learn:

• [01:54] The Pattern No One Was Tracking: How clinical observation at the VA revealed PTSD and diabetes worsening together—before research proved it
• [04:04] Stalking and Heart Disease: Why women on the editorial board said "of course this is true" while men said "there's no way"
• [05:35] The Gap in Major Disease Studies: Why the cohorts that shaped our understanding of diet, exercise, and disease never measured trauma
• [11:27] How to Define Trauma: Uncontrollable, unpredictable, and overwhelming—and why the pandemic qualified
• [14:41] When Coping Mechanisms Take a Toll: How the adaptations that helped us survive can interfere with where we want to go
• [17:14] Resilience Redefined: Why you can have symptoms and still be making meaning—and why the person in front of you is always a survivor
• [23:58] Loss of Life Purpose: How retirement, death of a spouse, or role changes directly impact physical health and longevity
• [28:47] Time Doesn't Heal—It Becomes Biology: Why going back to work and staying busy doesn't make trauma fade
• [32:33] The Biology of Adversity Project: How epigenetics research may catch changes before chronic conditions develop
• [34:17] Somatic Practices Without the Story: The future of yoga, breathwork, and body-based approaches for resetting the nervous system

Get the full episode breakdown at Biology of Trauma® Podcast - Episode 155: Time Doesn't Heal: What 20 Years of Research Actually Shows

Resources/Guides:

• Biology of Trauma book - Available now everywhere books are sold. Get your copy
• Free Guide: How Trauma Shows Up in the Body & What To Do About It - Understand why your body responds this way. Learn what helps.

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 86: Is Trauma Genetic or Epigenetic? Insights with Dr. Bruce Lipton
• Episode 116: The Body Keeps Score: How Trauma Rewires Your Nervous System with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk