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"Emotional stress is a major cause of physical illness, from cancer to autoimmune conditions and many other chronic diseases. The brain and body systems that process emotions are intimately connected with the hormonal apparatus, the nervous system, and in particular the immune system." 

 

- Dr. Gabor Maté

Body-Mind Connection 

Many people tend to think of the brain as a kind of central command center, but the latest research suggests that it is more of a logistics warehouse instead. 80% of your body’s signals are sent to the brain from the body and only 20% the other way around. 

 

Our body has a large nerve called the vagus nerve. It's the largest nerve and connects the gut and brain, through the gut-brain axis. It communicates information from the gut to the brain using neurotransmitters (such as serotonin and glutamate) and gut hormones, all of which play a vital role in sleep, mood, pain, stress and hunger. The “gut-brain” goes through our heart and lungs, all the way up to our face and ear canal right into our brain. This nerve is thicker than the spinal cord, but most people have never even heard of it. The vagus nerve is considered to be among the most complex systems of nerves in the body. The purpose of the vagus nerve is to link the brain to other parts of the body. Sensations of touch, sound, and taste all originate from the vagus nerve. Additionally, it becomes an obvious link between our physical and mental health, also known as the “mind-body connection.” Basically, this means that our mental health and gut health are largely connected.

 

While we’ve long known that gut health was linked to digestion and even immune health, now we’re finding out that the gut literally has a mind of its own. Simply put, the gut is our second brain for so many reasons, nearly impacting every part of the body, from immune to inflammatory response, to the fight or flight response. The vagus nerve plays a major role, as a result, stimulation of the vagus nerve is important for both physical and mental health. The vagus nerve makes up the largest component of the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, which is a part of the automatic nervous system that controls functions when the body is at rest. While the sympathetic nervous system controls our "fight or flight" response. The parasympathetic nervous system controls the body’s rest and digestive functions. If a person is managing stress correctly, then their parasympathetic nervous system should take back over immediately after a "fight or flight" response. 

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Bottom-Up Processing

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Our body is constantly communicated information to the brain, this is referred to as the "bottom-up processing" which begins with the retrieval of sensory information from our external environment to build perceptions based on the current input of sensory information. The "top-down processing" on the other hand is the interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations. Trauma is a somatic experience meaning, those traumatic experiences are stored and relived in and through the body in the form of sensations, behaviors and feelings. So, the concept of "change your thoughts, change your life," isn't enough when a trauma survivor is being activated or triggered. Healing requires us to first observe and notice, then express and tell our operating system that we are safe.

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Sometimes a trauma survivor may exhibit body sensations or reactions to trauma and be able to name the trauma. Sometimes a situation activates or triggers a person’s trauma response without being aware of it. The person may just feel a threat to their safety. They person may begin to find ways to cope with those feelings, and may resort to coping mechanisms that were perhaps developed long ago when the trauma first happened in their life. Many people resort to a coping mechanism like bing eating, drinking, smoking, self-harm, use drugs, or resort to another form of behavior, because they don’t want to feel what they’re feeling. With a "bottom-up approach" a person can find new skills so that their feelings feel more manageable. Until a person can learn to be fully present and in their body and feel their feelings safely, it’s impossible to truly process trauma. 

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When a client first experiences a somatic treatment with a professional and trained practitioner, their body reacts; then their mind thinks. It can be especially hard to know if they are safe when their amygdala "the smoke alarm in their brain" is going off. The part of the brain that develops earliest in life, is the "primitive" brain, which is the brain stem. It is the part of the brain that is responsible for keeping a person safe. It is where the "fight, flight, and freeze" responses exist. The primitive part of the brain does not suddenly just turn off when it has experienced a long-standing danger. After trauma, especially complex trauma, the brain gets stuck in this mode and remains prepared for danger all the time.

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The higher brain regions, known as the "limbic system" responsible for attachment and emotional development, and the cortical brain, which is responsible for thinking and learning do not develop as-needed, they can not work well if the lower part of the brain, the part that is responsible for sensory motor functions and survival are not functioning well. A person can't change their thoughts long-term without first noticing the feeling that activates or triggers their thoughts. They will need to address this from the primal part of their brain, the "limbic system" which is where the trauma is stored. Once a person begins to understand how they feel about something, they can start to gradually change the way they think about it. There are many therapists, clinal professionals, and trained trauma practitioners that specifically specialize in this approach and can provide step by step guidance.  

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The impact of trauma can show up and effect a person in the following:

 

Cognitive

Behavioral

Physical

Psychological

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Cognitive:

Can be intrusive thoughts that present themselves when least expected in the form of night Tremors, flash backs, visual images of the event, brain fog, loss of memory or being unable to concentrate, feelings of being disoriented or confused, extreme emotions, etc.

 

Behavioral:

Can be dissociation, isolation or withdrawal, avoidance of places or activities that are reminders of the event, losing interest in activities or socializing, etc.

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  Physical:

Can be hyper-vigilance, being startled easily or feeling edgy, anxiety and fast heart rate, being overwhelmed,  a change in eating patterns or sleeping patterns, etc.

 

Psychological:

Can be obsessive and compulsive behaviors, emotional numbing depression, a spiral of experiencing intense blame, shame, and guilt, etc. 

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