Debunking “The Body Keeps the Score”: A Critique of Trauma Science, Repressed Memory, and Its Anti-Scientific, Anti-Islamic Foundations
In recent years, the phrase “The Body Keeps the Score” has become a cultural mantra. It titles the best-selling book by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, which has sold millions of copies and been translated into over 40 languages. This trauma-informed ideology has spread rapidly across schools, therapy offices, social media, and even some religious counselling spaces.
While the trauma aware movement claims to offer healing and validation for survivors, a closer look at its foundations reveals deep scientific flaws, historical controversies, and serious philosophical and theological dangers- especially for Muslims.
The Theory: Trauma Is Stored in the Body
Van der Kolk argues that traumatic experiences are not merely painful memories but physically stored in the body, manifesting as chronic illness, psychological symptoms, emotional dysregulation, and even autoimmune disorders. He famously claims that trauma leads to “amygdala hijacking” (hyperactivation of the brain's fear center) and that unresolved trauma will continue to manifest until it is fully "processed."
He borrows heavily from Joseph LeDoux, a leading neuroscientist in the study of fear. But LeDoux himself strongly rejects how Van der Kolk interprets his research. LeDoux emphasizes that:
•.Emotions are conscious and involve cognitive interpretation.
• The amygdala is not solely responsible for fear- it’s part of a complex network involving memory, reasoning, and context.
• Oversimplifying emotional responses to “your amygdala is broken” is not supported by real neuroscience.
Van der Kolk also relies on Stephen Porges’ polyvagal theory, which suggests the nervous system becomes "dysregulated" after trauma, leaving individuals stuck in fight-or-flight mode. But Porges admits his theory is not falsifiable- a core requirement of real science- and is based on a repackaging of Paul MacLean’s debunked triune brain theory from the 1980s.
Freud’s Repression and Dissociation Rebranded
The trauma-informed narrative repackages old Freudian ideas like repression and dissociation with new neuroscience jargon:
• Freud claimed that people repress traumatic memories, which later manifest in neuroses.
• Pierre Janet (and later Van der Kolk) used the term dissociation- a “splitting” of traumatic memory from conscious awareness, causing physical and psychological symptoms.
According to Van der Kolk, trauma causes:
• Dissociated memories to be stored in the “viscera” (gut and body).
• Ongoing stress hormone release (e.g., cortisol), resulting in chronic illness.
• A person to lose moral agency, being controlled by past trauma until it is resolved.
But even this is scientifically disputed. For example:
• Cortisol levels in PTSD patients are often low, not high, which contradicts Van der Kolk’s claims.
• There is no consistent neurological evidence that trauma is “stored” in muscles, organs, or disconnected brain regions.
False Memories and Legal Tragedies
The trauma informed model has led to real-world harm, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, during what is now referred to as the "Repressed Memory Panic".
Therapists encouraged clients to "recover" traumatic memories- often using techniques like hypnosis, EMDR, or body scanning. As a result:
• Thousands of people, particularly in the U.S., accused family members of abuse based on memories that were later proven false.
• Entire families were torn apart. Some people even took their parents to court, claiming abuse that never occurred.
• High-profile cases (e.g., the McMartin preschool trial) involved false allegations of satanic ritual abuse, all stemming from the belief that traumatic memories were buried deep and needed to be recovered.
This hysteria was later debunked by memory researchers like Elizabeth Loftus, who showed that false memories can easily be implanted, especially when therapists suggest or guide the content.
Why This Is Anti-Science
The trauma informed worldview violates key principles of scientific integrity:
• Unfalsifiability: Van der Kolk’s ideas can’t be tested or disproven- he claims trauma affects every system, and if no symptoms appear, it’s still “stored somewhere.”
• Overgeneralisation: He implies that all negative experiences leave invisible scars that require years of therapy.
• Misuse of neuroscience: Brain scans and vague language (“the brain shuts down,” “the amygdala lights up”) are used to create the illusion of hard science.
• Lack of variability: His model doesn’t explain why many people recover from trauma without therapy, or why two people can experience the same event with different outcomes- something known in research as resilience, which Van der Kolk's model ignores.
Why This Is Anti-Islam
Islam teaches that:
• Human beings are morally responsible (taklīf) for their actions.
• Suffering exists, but it is a test, not a prison of the past.
• The heart (qalb) and soul (nafs) are not ruled (they may influence us but they cannot coerce us) by external trauma- they are guided by belief, intention, and choice.
The trauma model undermines:
• Free will: If your body is storing trauma and controlling your reactions, how can you be held accountable?
• Repentance and forgiveness: Islam calls believers to change their behavior and return to Allah- not to be defined by past pain.
• Gratitude and resilience (ṣabr): Islam honors those who show perseverance in adversity- not those who view themselves as victims indefinitely.
Van der Kolk’s framework invites people to reinterpret their life through a lens of victimhood, which encourages blame, self-focus, and redefinition of morality based on feelings, rather than divine guidance.
The Body Keeps the Score may be emotionally compelling, but it is built on a shaky foundation of pseudoscience, debunked theories, and dangerous assumptions. Van der Kolk endorses polyvagal theory as the scientific explanation for a “dysregulated nervous system” resulting from trauma. According to this view, even after the actual threat has passed, the individual remains stuck in a fight-or-flight state, as if the danger is still present.
The issue here is not denying that traumatic events happen. Rather, the concern is that trauma-informed therapy often encourages people to remain in that traumatic state, reinforcing the idea that they are perpetually damaged or unsafe- rather than helping them move beyond it. In this way, the therapy can unintentionally keep people psychologically trapped in their trauma, even after the actual danger is long gone.
For Muslims especially, the trauma-informed worldview must be approached with great caution. Healing comes not from endlessly searching one’s body for buried pain but from:
• Seeking Allah’s help
• Maintaining patience and prayer
• Pursuing justice with evidence, not imagination •Affirming that Allah has given us agency, accountability, and the capacity for renewal
Let us return to frameworks that affirm human dignity, uphold truth, and offer hope grounded not in biology or pop psychology- but in divine wisdom.
In recent years, the phrase “The Body Keeps the Score” has become a cultural mantra. It titles the best-selling book by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, which has sold millions of copies and been translated into over 40 languages. This trauma-informed ideology has spread rapidly across schools, therapy offices, social media, and even some religious counselling spaces.
While the trauma aware movement claims to offer healing and validation for survivors, a closer look at its foundations reveals deep scientific flaws, historical controversies, and serious philosophical and theological dangers- especially for Muslims.
The Theory: Trauma Is Stored in the Body
Van der Kolk argues that traumatic experiences are not merely painful memories but physically stored in the body, manifesting as chronic illness, psychological symptoms, emotional dysregulation, and even autoimmune disorders. He famously claims that trauma leads to “amygdala hijacking” (hyperactivation of the brain's fear center) and that unresolved trauma will continue to manifest until it is fully "processed."
He borrows heavily from Joseph LeDoux, a leading neuroscientist in the study of fear. But LeDoux himself strongly rejects how Van der Kolk interprets his research. LeDoux emphasizes that:
•.Emotions are conscious and involve cognitive interpretation.
• The amygdala is not solely responsible for fear- it’s part of a complex network involving memory, reasoning, and context.
• Oversimplifying emotional responses to “your amygdala is broken” is not supported by real neuroscience.
Van der Kolk also relies on Stephen Porges’ polyvagal theory, which suggests the nervous system becomes "dysregulated" after trauma, leaving individuals stuck in fight-or-flight mode. But Porges admits his theory is not falsifiable- a core requirement of real science- and is based on a repackaging of Paul MacLean’s debunked triune brain theory from the 1980s.
Freud’s Repression and Dissociation Rebranded
The trauma-informed narrative repackages old Freudian ideas like repression and dissociation with new neuroscience jargon:
• Freud claimed that people repress traumatic memories, which later manifest in neuroses.
• Pierre Janet (and later Van der Kolk) used the term dissociation- a “splitting” of traumatic memory from conscious awareness, causing physical and psychological symptoms.
According to Van der Kolk, trauma causes:
• Dissociated memories to be stored in the “viscera” (gut and body).
• Ongoing stress hormone release (e.g., cortisol), resulting in chronic illness.
• A person to lose moral agency, being controlled by past trauma until it is resolved.
But even this is scientifically disputed. For example:
• Cortisol levels in PTSD patients are often low, not high, which contradicts Van der Kolk’s claims.
• There is no consistent neurological evidence that trauma is “stored” in muscles, organs, or disconnected brain regions.
False Memories and Legal Tragedies
The trauma informed model has led to real-world harm, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, during what is now referred to as the "Repressed Memory Panic".
Therapists encouraged clients to "recover" traumatic memories- often using techniques like hypnosis, EMDR, or body scanning. As a result:
• Thousands of people, particularly in the U.S., accused family members of abuse based on memories that were later proven false.
• Entire families were torn apart. Some people even took their parents to court, claiming abuse that never occurred.
• High-profile cases (e.g., the McMartin preschool trial) involved false allegations of satanic ritual abuse, all stemming from the belief that traumatic memories were buried deep and needed to be recovered.
This hysteria was later debunked by memory researchers like Elizabeth Loftus, who showed that false memories can easily be implanted, especially when therapists suggest or guide the content.
Why This Is Anti-Science
The trauma informed worldview violates key principles of scientific integrity:
• Unfalsifiability: Van der Kolk’s ideas can’t be tested or disproven- he claims trauma affects every system, and if no symptoms appear, it’s still “stored somewhere.”
• Overgeneralisation: He implies that all negative experiences leave invisible scars that require years of therapy.
• Misuse of neuroscience: Brain scans and vague language (“the brain shuts down,” “the amygdala lights up”) are used to create the illusion of hard science.
• Lack of variability: His model doesn’t explain why many people recover from trauma without therapy, or why two people can experience the same event with different outcomes- something known in research as resilience, which Van der Kolk's model ignores.
Why This Is Anti-Islam
Islam teaches that:
• Human beings are morally responsible (taklīf) for their actions.
• Suffering exists, but it is a test, not a prison of the past.
• The heart (qalb) and soul (nafs) are not ruled (they may influence us but they cannot coerce us) by external trauma- they are guided by belief, intention, and choice.
The trauma model undermines:
• Free will: If your body is storing trauma and controlling your reactions, how can you be held accountable?
• Repentance and forgiveness: Islam calls believers to change their behavior and return to Allah- not to be defined by past pain.
• Gratitude and resilience (ṣabr): Islam honors those who show perseverance in adversity- not those who view themselves as victims indefinitely.
Van der Kolk’s framework invites people to reinterpret their life through a lens of victimhood, which encourages blame, self-focus, and redefinition of morality based on feelings, rather than divine guidance.
The Body Keeps the Score may be emotionally compelling, but it is built on a shaky foundation of pseudoscience, debunked theories, and dangerous assumptions. Van der Kolk endorses polyvagal theory as the scientific explanation for a “dysregulated nervous system” resulting from trauma. According to this view, even after the actual threat has passed, the individual remains stuck in a fight-or-flight state, as if the danger is still present.
The issue here is not denying that traumatic events happen. Rather, the concern is that trauma-informed therapy often encourages people to remain in that traumatic state, reinforcing the idea that they are perpetually damaged or unsafe- rather than helping them move beyond it. In this way, the therapy can unintentionally keep people psychologically trapped in their trauma, even after the actual danger is long gone.
For Muslims especially, the trauma-informed worldview must be approached with great caution. Healing comes not from endlessly searching one’s body for buried pain but from:
• Seeking Allah’s help
• Maintaining patience and prayer
• Pursuing justice with evidence, not imagination •Affirming that Allah has given us agency, accountability, and the capacity for renewal
Let us return to frameworks that affirm human dignity, uphold truth, and offer hope grounded not in biology or pop psychology- but in divine wisdom.
Courses
Created with
