Developmental Trauma
Researchers van der Kolk et al. have proposed that children who are significantly psychologically and emotionally disturbed as a result of their traumatic upbringings be diagnosed with Developmental Trauma Disorder (although the proposed diagnosis is not yet included in the… Read more
How Does Trauma Affect Memory?
Traumatic Memories
Remembering traumatic events is in some ways beneficial. For example, it allows us to review the experience and learn from it. Also, by replaying the event/s, its/their emotional charge is diminished.
However, sometimes the process breaks down and… Read more
Trauma And Memory
In this article, I want to focus on the potential adverse affects of trauma on memory, and, in particular, four types of memory :
episodic memory
semantic memory
procedural memory
emotional memory
I briefly explain the function of these four… Read more
How Childhood Trauma Can Profoundly Damage Our View Of Ourselves
If we have experienced childhood trauma to a significant degree, we may irrationally blame ourselves for it which, in turn, may well seriously, negatively, distort our self-perception; in other words, adversely affect our view of ourselves.
Our ENVIRONMENT has a… Read more
Types Of Childhood Trauma
There are many traumatic events that can befall us in childhood which, as we have seen in other articles I have published on this site, can, potentially, result in us incurring significant and long-lasting psychological damage, especially in the absence… Read more
Why Labelling The Child As ‘Mentally Ill’ Can Be Unhelpful
In his critically acclaimed book : ‘CRACKED : WHY PSYCHIATRY IS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD‘, the author, James Davies, argues that psychiatry is a pseudo-science which :
over-medicalizes human behavior, labelling individuals as mentally ‘ill’ when it is not… Read more
Why Complex PTSD Sufferers May Avoid Eye Contact
A study by Lanius et al. was conducted to cast light upon why many with individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including those suffering from complex-PTSD, often find it excruciatingly uncomfortable every time the rules of social etiquette compel… Read more
Can New Drug Treatment Induce Memories And Feelings Of Safety In PTSD Sufferers?
An experiment carried out at the University of Puerto Rico (Quirk et al.) on rats has shown that administering a drug directly into their brains can induce in them a sense of safety in a situation in which they were… Read more
How Childhood Trauma Can Make Us Constantly Hypervigilant
What Is Meant By Hypervigilance?
A person who is hypervigilant feels constantly ‘on edge’ , ‘keyed up’ and fearful. S/he experiences a perpetual sense of dread and of being under threat despite the fact, objectively speaking, there is no present… Read more
Factors That Make Complex PTSD More Severe
What Factors Make The Symptoms Of Complex PTSD Even More Serious?
We have seen from several other articles that I have published on this site that the experience of a traumatic childhood is linked to the development of complex PTSD… Read more
Overcoming Feelings Of Shame With Counseling
We have seen from other articles that I have published on this site that those of us who have experienced significant and protracted childhood trauma often experience irrational, deep feelings of shame as adults which can severely disrupt our lives… Read more
Deep Feelings Of Shame Resulting From Emotionally Impoverished Relationships With Parents
According to DeYoung, author of the excellent book : ‘Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame : A Relational / Neurobiological Approach‘, the experience of shame comes about as a result of dysfunctional relationships with other people (in particular, of course, with… Read more
How Trauma Can Seriously Adversely Affect The Nervous System
Peter Levine, an expert on the effects of trauma on the body, states that as a result of severe and prolonged trauma, the functioning of our nervous systems can become seriously disrupted. More specifically, traumatized individuals can suffer from dysregulation… Read more
3 Ways To Classify Trauma
Terr (1991) in an article published in the American Journal Of Psychiatry, proposes three classifications of trauma. These are as follows :
Terr’s 3 Ways To Classify Trauma :
ACUTE TRAUMA (Type I Trauma)
COMPLEX TRAUMA (Type II Trauma)
CROSSOVER… Read more
Hypervigilance And Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Complex PTSD).
If we have grown up in a chronically stressful and traumatic environment in which we often experienced anxiety, trepidation, stress and fear we are at high risk of developing a fundamental, core belief (on a conscious and/or unconscious level) that… Read more
