People who have been traumatized have been faced with a situation that has challenged their capacity to produce solutions until now, in a way they have never encountered before, and that shakes their selves. That’s why for them, life is divided into pre-traumatic and post-traumatic.
The stress hormone of people who have experienced severe trauma ((torture, neglect, abuse, rape, etc.) does not return to normal level by continuing to be secreted even after a long time. Normally, our stress hormone is secreted too much to ignite the fight-and-flight response in case of danger, and then it returns us to the balance we call homeostasis. When PTSD occurs, the stress hormone continues to be secreted even after the danger has passed, and the state of arousal continues. After the trauma, many people are trapped in the fear they know instead of trying new options.
What is the Biology of Trauma?
It is the amygdala part of our brain that decides whether a sound, a noise, or a smell is a threat. When the amygdala perceives the stimulus as a threat, it goes into an alarm state. Stress hormones fire, blood pressure speeds up the heartbeat and increases oxygen uptake. In a split second, it prepares the body for a fight-flight response and takes action, or if the person is horrified, they freeze.
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After the trauma, why do clients have difficulty in describing this event?
Because the blood flow to Broca’s area, which is the speech center of the brain, is cut off, just like in patients with paralysis. Because even when the memory comes to their minds years later, they feel the body sensations of the moment they experienced the trauma. To be imprisoned in that moment is to be imprisoned in all these body sensations. Even if the person can start to tell about the trauma even if it is difficult, due to the nature of the trauma, he cannot describe it with a wholeness that has a beginning, a middle and an end, like positive memories.
So what do we do as EMDR Therapists?
We enable them to make sense of these unprocessed parts of the trauma in a holistic way. There are bodily sensations such as sound, smell, and disjointed images in the memory, and these are the unprocessed parts of the trauma that are trapped in the body independent of the memory. By detecting the body sensations that trigger the client, we depersonalize them in a controlled manner with eye movements. Unprocessed memories evoke reactions similar to the moment of trauma in daily life. When these stimuli are perceived, the situation we call flashback (unwanted memory comes to mind) occurs and causes the person to be unable to do whatever they are doing at that moment and not be able to adapt to daily tasks. After the EMDR method, people can continue their daily lives as they become desensitized to the memory.
How soon after trauma should a specialist be consulted?
According to the EMDR school, there is no need for a period of 1 month, unlike other schools, and EMDR therapy can be taken for recent trauma. In this way, we support the client to make sense of the event, to realize that the reactions given are normal reactions, and to overcome the trauma process in a healthy way. I can give an example of how to get through this healthy way. In some traumas, the person feels guilty because he cannot change the course of the event or wants to harm himself or others because he cannot react. In such cases, we intervene in the places where the client is stuck. Therefore, if you or your loved one has been traumatized and it seems that he cannot adapt to his daily life, it is absolutely necessary to seek expert help. This will bring about big change.
Posted by;
Psk. Pelin Kayman
