Trauma Basics Part Four

5 Signs You May Be Affected by Trauma Memory

Jaime was feeling just fine when she turned in for the night.  It was a typical evening, and after tucking in her kids, she was looking forward to getting some good sleep.  Fortunately, the sleep was really good…until it wasn’t.  All of a sudden, Jaime bolted up in bed and noticed that she had not only awakened suddenly, but her heart was racing, and so was her mind.

Waking her husband, Jaime said, “I think I’m having a heart attack.”  At only 30 years old, her husband assured her that it wasn’t very likely.  However, Jaime insisted that something was wrong.  She jumped out of bed and called the emergency number to get an ambulance to come to her home.  Because, in her mind, since she didn’t want to die and leave two young kids without a mother, she had no time to waste; she needed help as soon as possible.

Once the ambulance arrived and she was examined, the paramedics gave her the news…she was just fine.  Her heart was normal, and she was NOT having a heart attack.  Confused, Jaime wasn’t sure she could trust them.  They told her there was nothing physically wrong, but that she was probably “just” panicking.  

Just panicking.

There was no “just” to the feelings of dread that Jaime was experiencing.  It was sheer terror in her system.  

For Jaime and many like her, her body didn’t know that she was actually safe in the present moment.  It sent her false alarms.  

Since our brains and bodies are wired through our nervous system for survival, anything that even hints at being a potential threat is enough to get our blood pumping and our system preparing to fight or take flight.  However, many times, the input is simply misinterpreted, and there is no threat.  The threat(s) to survival may have happened a long time ago, but the system responded as if the danger is a threat today.

Anxiety and Panic Attacks are just one way our systems alert us to unresolved trauma in our nervous systems.  The following are some other ways to tell:

An Exaggerated Startle Response We all get startled by something unexpected, but when the level of the startle response is more than the situation warrants, it can be a sign that our nervous systems are overly stressed and perpetually primed to protect us and overprotect us if necessary at the slightest inkling of perceived danger.

You find yourself withdrawing from others, feeling disconnected, numb, or in denial or disbelief

Difficulty Concentrating/Feeling that you, others, or your circumstances are not real, as if you are living in a dream.  This is called dissociation, and it is a protective mechanism where your mind closes out awareness and connection and focuses inward on protecting the self.  This is a survival and protective mechanism, but it can get in the way of enjoying life and really experiencing it in the here-and-now.

Your Moods Fluctuate Greatly- You may be doing just fine one moment and the next be triggered by something that really sets your emotions off to a heightened intensity.  Being okay in one moment, might give way at the simplest of things to rage, sobbing, or irritability. 

You have Nightmares- Sometimes, we can keep our pain at bay when we are awake during the day, but trauma can show up in your sleep patterns and your dreams.  If you are having repetitive nightmares, or you find yourself waking in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, have difficulty getting back to sleep, etc…. It could be trauma trying to alert you to take action or be prepared for something that has already happened or something that isn’t currently happening but feels like it’s pressing in on you.

These symptoms are not a sign of weakness but a sign that you likely have been strong for too long.  If you need help with any of these issues or the underlying traumas that could use attention and treatment, connect with us, we’d love to help: 541-275-0412

Trauma Basics Part Two

What is Big T Trauma, and What is Little t Trauma?

Big T Trauma

Trauma is basically the result of anything that causes a deep wound to the mind, the emotions, or the body.  So, when therapists talk about Big T or Little t trauma, they are not describing whether someone is wounded more or less than someone else, but they are describing the way in which the wounding to the mind, emotions, or body occurred and how it affected the nervous system of the person who has been traumatized.

When the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, and New York City held the locations where planes crashed, but the effects of the shock rippled throughout the world.  It was one day of horror for many as a collective people, but for the family members and friends of those who were killed, it was personal.  For those killed or injured, it was even more personal.  Yet, deep wounding happened to all involved as a result of overwhelming and sudden events.  This is Big T trauma. One-time events with great effects of wounding to those impacted.  The attacks sent peoples’ bodies into fight or flight survival mode and resulted in on-going pain and recovery being needed, but once the plane explosions stopped, the cause of the attack was over.  The fight or flight system might be on high alert and extra-sensitively tuned to watch for indications of danger, but the rhythms of normal life could help the wounding to be contained as a direct result of an isolated day of  threat coming to a close.

Little t Trauma

Little t trauma is more the on-going assaults that happen the mind, emotions, and body in the course of life.  It still is completely devastating and wounding, but it is caused by repetitive, less defined attacks to one’s sense of safety.  Instead of a specific event, like a plane crash, that can be contained to location and date and time, little t trauma can be every bit as present but not as easy to classify as to when it started and when it finished.  

For example, a child may have a clean bedroom, clean clothes, sufficient food for adequate nutrition, and a caring mother, but if the child’s father comes home drunk and raging on a regular basis over time, this can cause trauma.  Even though a father is merely coming home to his family, the out-of-control, not knowing what to expect, wondering if yelling or hitting still can have as much catastrophic damage as a one-time event, but may even hold more wounding because it cannot be contained to one event where it all occurred.  It kept the body in fight or flight survival mode constantly over years.  This type of wounding can make it for one’s system to identify whether it can begin to heal or needs to remain stuck in watchfulness for potential threats.

Combinations

There can, of course, be big T traumas mixed in with little t traumas, and little t traumas that result from bit T traumas.  

The Point of Classification 

The point of classifying trauma as Big T or Little t is not to indicate level of pain, but to allow therapists and clients to understand the complexities of how bodies’ nervous systems are impacted and how to best design treatment care so that they can heal.

Each person’s trauma is a significant wounding, but the way each person experiences the effects and the way the plan of care takes shape are informed by the uniqueness of both the person and they type of wounding.

Contact Us if you feel you could benefit from treatment for your wounding experiences.

Guest blog written by Michelle Croyle

Trauma Basics Part One

Trauma Basics Part 1: How Trauma is Stored Differently In the Body

Trauma comes from Greek origin and means, “wound.” 

When we experience trauma, we are very literally wounded.  Some traumas will actually involve blood, scrapes, or broken bones, but many traumas do not show outwardly at first glance.  

Trauma can be something sudden and a one-time event, a series of catastrophes, or even a number of daily traumas over a period of time, such as in an emotionally abusive childhood.  

Trauma Memories Are Stored Differently Than Non-Traumatic Memories

Trauma memories are stored differently than non-traumatic ones because trauma is not consolidated as a “snapshot” of events that then get a “time and date stamp in the bottom corner.”  Trauma has the potential to stay in the fragmented parts in which it was encoded due to the body’s sympathetic nervous system, also known as the fight or flight response.  

During fight or flight experiences, the body is concerned only with surviving.  So, when the body detects through its various senses that there is potential or actual threat occurring or about to happen, it bypasses the logic area of the brain and goes straight to the amygdala portion which instinctually hijacks the system to do what it believes is best for survival such as jumping out of the way of an oncoming car or screaming frantically and punching at an intruder.  There is no time to waste in decision making, the situation is quite accurately a live or die situation, even if the threat of not surviving is on an emotional level, such as fear of being abandoned or rejected by a caregiver and not being able to fend for oneself.  

The Amygdala Goes Into Action

When the amygdala goes into action, it can be as if time slows down, blood moves away from the digestive system of the body and into the arms and legs, getting the body ready to move quickly into action.  Sometimes, this is enough.  Sometimes, it isn’t.  Oftentimes, the individual parts of the experience are stored not as a snapshot but as a memory of a scent in one area of the brain, a sensitivity to a loud sound in another part, or a feeling of heat, frozenness, or other sensory data in yet other places.

Non-traumatic memories are stored, dated, and forgotten until a person has a need for the information to be recalled.  Traumatic memories are stuck as if the threat is still occurring.  This lacks the time stamp to indicate that the threat is over, and this can result in triggers that remind the person of threat, even if the trigger is not connected to an actual threat.  For example, if a person is shot at as a soldier, they might feel panic when they hear a car backfire.  The nervous system doesn’t want to take any chances when survival is perceived to be at stake.

The Body Needs To Know The Threat to Survival Is Over

This is why therapy may be necessary to help the nervous system to realize that the threat is over and that survival is already a reality.  It no longer has to be secured at this time, so the nervous system can relax and switch to the parasympathetic nervous system, which is also known as the rest and digest system where typical blood flow and relaxed muscle tone, laughter, connection, humor, and friendships can grow.  No one has time for those things if a bear is about to attack.  But when there is no bear, having the body ready to fight a threat at a split second’s notice is exhausting.

If you need help to process your traumatic body memories, please contact us. We’d be honored to help you heal and not just know but feel that the threat to survival is over, and you survived.

Guest blog written by Michelle Croyle