Trauma can interfere with regions of the brain that govern fear and stress responses, emotion regulation, and executive functions. These neurological effects increase the risk of developing emotional, behavioral, and mental health problems, especially when trauma occurs in childhood.
Emotion Trauma and The Prefrontal Cortex
Normally, the amygdala will sense a negative emotion, such as fear, and the prefrontal cortex will rationally react to this emotion. After trauma though, this rationality might be overridden and your prefrontal cortex will have a hard time regulating fear and other emotions.
That said, positive change is possible. The neuroplasticity that enables brains to change in response to trauma also allows them to heal. Therapies like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy show promising potential for childhood trauma recovery.
The amygdala is the emotional response center of the brain that helps people perceive and control their emotions. It also plays a role in emotional memories and fear response. When someone experiences a traumatic event and is showing signs of PTSD, their amygdala often becomes more active than it normally would.
Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Most people who go through traumatic events may have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and good self-care, they usually get better.
Although the brain does not process emotional pain and physical pain identically, research on neural pathways suggests there is substantial overlap between the experience of physical and social pain.
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala.
It's helping your hippocampus process through memories, and that sends a message to your amygdala that you're actually safe. So something as simple as a writing exercise can help rewire your brain from that trauma. More types of treatments include CBT, EMDR, somatic experience.
van der Kolk writes that there are three avenues for recovery: “top down, by talking, (re-) connecting with others, and allowing ourselves to know and understand what is going on with us”; “taking medicines that shut down inappropriate alarm reactions"; and “bottom up, by allowing the body to have experiences that ...
The normal healing and recovery process involves the body coming down out of heightened arousal. The internal alarms can turn off, the high levels of energy subside, and the body can re-set itself to a normal state of balance and equilibrium. Typically, this should occur within approximately one month of the event.
For some people, the tremors are big movements in the muscles. For others, they are tiny contractions that feel like electrical frequencies moving through the body. TRE® is not painful—in fact, most people enjoy the sensations.
Emotional trauma can last from a few days to a few months.
Some people will recover from emotional trauma after days or weeks, while others may experience more long-term effects.
These changes are significant enough to have physical, emotional, and psychological effects that can last into adulthood. If you experienced abuse or neglect as a child, your brain might have become wired for fear, anxiety, and stress. And disorders such as anxiety, depression, or addiction can surface later in life.
In order to properly heal PTSD, getting effective treatment, such as PTSD counseling, is key. While healing childhood trauma is not always easy, it is possible! Trauma-based therapy can help you pinpoint triggers, create healthy coping mechanisms, and lessen the severity of your symptoms.
The Dysregulated Post-Trauma Brain
The four categories of PTSD symptoms include: intrusive thoughts (unwanted memories); mood alterations (shame, blame, persistent negativity); hypervigilance (exaggerated startle response); and avoidance (of all sensory and emotional trauma-related material).
Crying is not a bad thing. In fact, it's how your body releases pent-up energy after a traumatic or distressing event. During your recovery period, let yourself feel your emotions. After crying, you may feel like a weight's been lifted off your shoulders.
Psychological shock is when you experience a physical reaction in response to a traumatic event. It can be from a number of traumatic events, like a car accident, going through a breakup, witnessing something scary, or any other kind of event that can lead to feelings of fear.
Negative thoughts and feelings, such as hopelessness, guilt, and self-blame. Changes in your physical and emotional reactions, such as not being able to sleep, being easily startled, or struggling to manage surges of sadness or anger.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has long been believed to be a disorder that produces the most intense emotional pain and distress in those who have this condition. Studies have shown that borderline patients experience chronic and significant emotional suffering and mental agony.
Feelings and emotions are transient—even the darkest and most painful days don't last forever.
Brain monitoring therapies such as neurofeedback and scans such as the Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) scan are being used with the promise of helping you visualize how emotional trauma and several mental health issues such as depression, PTSD, and anxiety impact the brain.
Initial reactions to trauma can include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbness, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, and blunted affect.