For years, Paula Walters lived with chronic illness, mental health struggles, and a growing list of medical diagnoses. She saw specialists, took numerous medications, and was eventually told that her health would continue to decline.
The underlying problem, however, may have begun years earlier with a near-fatal strangulation.
During this episode of Mind Matters: Navigating Head Injuries and Concussions, legal nurse consultant Kiley Como spoke with Paula, founder of The Courageous Survivor, about domestic violence, brain injury, medical misdiagnosis, and the importance of treating the whole person.
A Childhood Built Around Survival
Paula grew up in a home affected by dysfunction, addiction, and abuse.
Instead of learning to feel safe and connected, she learned to protect herself. Those early experiences affected how she viewed herself, relationships, and the world around her.
As she grew older, Paula struggled with mental health, substance use, and the need for validation. She also found herself repeating familiar relationship patterns and becoming involved with abusive people.
In 2006, one relationship escalated into a near-fatal strangulation.
Paula was working as a paramedic at the time and was taken to the same emergency room where she worked. Her private trauma suddenly became public, but instead of receiving immediate understanding, she experienced blame and disbelief.
That night began a 13-year journey through chronic illness, addiction, mental health crises, and numerous medical diagnoses.
When Every Specialist Sees Only One Part
Paula began experiencing problems involving her blood pressure, heart rate, stomach, nervous system, and mental health.
She was referred to several specialists, but each provider focused primarily on one area of the body.
A cardiologist evaluated her heart. A neurologist examined structural neurological concerns. Mental health professionals treated psychological symptoms. Other doctors addressed her digestive and hormonal complaints.
Paula felt that no one was connecting the different symptoms or evaluating her as a whole person.
Over time, she received diagnoses that included postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, neurocardiogenic syncope, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, bipolar disorder, and an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis.
One doctor discussed placing a pacemaker. Another told her she might not live to see 50.
Her driving privileges and ability to work as a paramedic were eventually taken away.
A Different Explanation
Paula’s path changed after she met Dr. Bill Smock, medical director of the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention.
After hearing her history, he suggested that her symptoms could be connected to a brain injury caused by strangulation.
Strangulation can interrupt oxygen and blood flow to the brain without always leaving obvious external injuries. The resulting neurological effects may be overlooked, particularly when symptoms develop or continue long after the assault.
Paula brought this possibility to one of her neurologists, but she felt dismissed and blamed for continuing to connect her current condition to the earlier violence.
Still, having one medical professional believe her encouraged Paula to continue searching.
Finding Care That Looked at the Whole Person
Paula eventually connected with a clinic that approached her symptoms from a functional neurological perspective.
She traveled for an intensive evaluation and treatment program. At that point, she had lost much of her independence and was experiencing a severe mental health crisis.
She returned home feeling noticeably different.
Paula reported that she soon resumed driving and working. She eventually stopped taking the approximately 20 medications she had previously been prescribed.
The experience also created a complicated relationship with the traditional medical system. Some of her earlier diagnoses remained in her records even after her symptoms improved, affecting matters such as life insurance and financial planning.
Her story demonstrates how medical labels can continue influencing a person’s life long after the original diagnosis is questioned.
When Neurological Problems Look Like Mental Illness
Paula later began experiencing irritability, overstimulation, poor sleep, stomach problems, fatigue, and headaches behind her eyes.
To other people, the changes appeared primarily psychological.
Her care team evaluated how her brain was receiving information from her eyes, inner ears, and body. When those systems were not communicating consistently, her brain became overwhelmed.
That overload affected her mood, sleep, physical comfort, and behavior.
Mental health treatment remains important, but Paula’s experience shows why providers should also consider whether neurological or physical problems are contributing to emotional symptoms.
Irritability, anxiety, anger, or mood changes after a brain injury may not be explained by willpower or personality alone.
Trauma Can Become Physical
Trauma is often discussed as an emotional or psychological experience, but its effects can also become physical.
Long-term stress may influence sleep, digestion, heart rate, blood pressure, pain, concentration, and the nervous system.
Paula believes medical professionals should consider a patient’s full history, including adverse childhood experiences, abuse, and other trauma.
Her childhood ACE score was nine, indicating exposure to numerous adverse experiences. Yet she said that history was rarely considered when doctors evaluated her chronic medical and mental health symptoms.
Understanding a person’s past does not mean assuming every symptom is caused by trauma. It means recognizing that the body, brain, and emotional health are connected.
Learning to Recognize Patterns
Paula now pays close attention to changes in her body.
When she becomes unusually angry, physically tense, overstimulated, or uncomfortable, she tries to understand what may be causing the reaction instead of simply covering it with medication.
Journaling helps her identify patterns.
A smell, sound, environment, or interaction may trigger a protective response tied to an earlier traumatic experience. Recognizing that pattern allows her to separate the current situation from the past and respond more intentionally.
Paula continues to work on her brain and emotional health every day. She understands that recovery does not erase her history or every automatic reaction.
It gives her better tools for managing them.
Trust Yourself and Keep Searching
Paula’s advice to others is to trust their instincts.
When symptoms continue and the explanation does not feel complete, patients should ask questions, seek additional opinions, and continue searching for qualified professionals who will consider the full picture.
That does not mean rejecting traditional medicine. It means looking for providers who communicate, collaborate, and consider how neurological, physical, emotional, and social factors may interact.
Healing can require significant work, time, support, and access to care.
Paula’s journey was long and often frightening, but finding the right people changed the direction of her life.
Today, she is working, traveling, speaking, and helping others understand the connection between domestic violence, strangulation, trauma, and brain injury.
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