Trauma Brain II
In today's post, we're going to keep looking at how trauma and the brain are connected. We'll focus on how trauma can eventually change the brain's structure.
It's really important to remember that whether the trauma was a really big event or a smaller one, it can still make a big difference. Don't think that what you feel isn't important just because the trauma might seem small.
Trauma inevitably changes the brain.
Sometimes, we humans think we can fix everything if we work hard enough. We believe that putting in time and effort will make things better. But when it comes to dealing with trauma, it's important to understand that traumatic stress can negatively effect the chemicals in our brain. This happens even if we try really hard to fix it. These changes in chemicals can even change how our brain is built, and that affects how we go about our daily lives. How much it affects us depends on how bad the traumatic stress was and how often it happened.
Here's an example many people know about: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. This happens when someone goes through really tough and ongoing stressful things. People with PTSD often feel very anxious all the time, do things without thinking, and struggle with handling their feelings. But PTSD is just one of the things that can come from going through really tough stress. To be told you have something like PTSD, the changes in your brain because of the trauma must have already taken place. This means that the damage from the trauma is already done. So, it's a big deal, and both the person going through it and mental health experts need to work together to start the process of healing.
Effects on the brain.
If you read our post from last week, you now understand what trauma is and how it first affects the brain. But today, we want to talk more about the different parts of the brain and how they change as time goes on because of these experiences.
Amygdala Activation
What is the amygdala and what does it do? The amygdala is a part of the brain that looks like an almond. It's purpose is for handling feelings. It helps us deal with fear and remember strong emotions. Remember when we talked about how we react when we're in danger because of something bad that happened? That's when the fight-flight-freeze response kicks in. Well, during times like that, the amygdala becomes very active.
Because of this, the amygdala becomes too active, making us more afraid. This can change bad memories into nightmares or even flashbacks. These are like really strong thoughts that keep coming, making it hard to sleep.
When the amygdala is too active, it makes it hard to tell if a threat is from the past or happening now. So, when something reminds us of a traumatic experience, the amygdala makes us feel like it is happening all over again. This makes us feel worried all the time.
Also, it's good to know that when the amygdala is too active, it can affect different people in different ways. But usually, it makes people feel more scared. Some other things that can happen when the amygdala is too active are:
Feeling stressed all the time
Getting really scared easily
Getting more easily annoyed
Having trouble calming down
Having a hard time sleeping
Hippocampus Reduction
What is the hippocampus and what does it do? The hippocampus is a part of the brain that acts like a memory bank. It helps us remember things and know if something happened in the past or if it is happening now. Just like with other mental issues, studies have shown that going through trauma or being stressed for a long period of time can make the hippocampus become smaller, like it's shrinking. When it gets smaller, it's harder for us to tell if things are from the past or happening right now.
When the hippocampus gets smaller, we become extra sensitive to things that remind us of bad times, which we call triggers. Triggers can make us feel much more scared, stressed, and panicked. This happens because our brain has a tough time making and keeping new memories while also holding onto old bad memories. So, we end up feeling extra cautious, paranoid and worried all the time and reacting strongly to all of our emotions.
Prefrontal Cortex Dysfunction
What is the prefrontal cortex and what does it do? The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain that helps us think intelligently, control our feelings, stop ourselves from acting impulsively, and solve difficult problems. But when we're dealing with stress, the prefrontal cortex doesn't work as well. This means we can have trouble learning new things, controlling how we feel, and solving complicated problems.
Basically, when the prefrontal cortex doesn't work like it should, our ability to think intelligently becomes weaker, and we can feel like we're not good at handling our fear. This happens because other parts of the brain react really strongly to stress, making it hard for us to think logically and control our feelings.
In the next part of this series, we'll discuss how our everyday actions can change due to continuous stress. We'll discuss different methods people use to help with working through their stress, and we'll learn about methods that have been proven to help heal from traumatic experiences.