Trauma
What in the heck is It? Do I have it?
The key to treating the impact of trauma is by increasing our tolerance of stress.
The following flow chart outlines and defines our different responses to stressors. Hyperarousal (an overly stressed body) or hypoarousal (a checked out or dissociative one) indicates a physiological fight, flight or freeze response, and is identified by the pink and blue bubbles.
When our body is in a relaxed state it is regulated it is Comfort Zone, the yellow area. Reasoning and creative abilities are engaged in the yellow.
Understanding your "Window of Tolerance"
Self-soothing or the orange bubble are routes to return to regulated state. Anything that creates a distraction or redirects the individual from the perceived threat works. Examples may include massaging a pressure point, calling a friend, focusing on the breath, and releasing tension in one’s body.
Treating trauma is a daily endeavor.
Books
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Author : Bessel van der Kolk
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.
