How Does Trauma Affect the Brain?

How Does Trauma Affect the Brain? //

Have you ever wondered how does trauma affects the brain? Today, I go over mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injury. Many issues happen with childhood trauma that may cause PTSD, which can have a stressful outcome later in life. It's hard to deal with all the traumas we go through early on or later in life.

If we can take these traumas and try to heal them, then we can help t the brain, psychological trauma, and even our brain stress. Click the video to watch and learn more about traumas and how it affects our brain!

#MendedLight
#Trauma
#HowDoesTraumaEffecttheBrain

[lauberhof]

Two of my favorite things therapists have told me are "PTSD is a normal reaction to abnormal circumstances" and "Mental illness is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of having had to be too strong for too long."

[mschrisfrank]

I wish other people could understand this about those of us who struggle with trauma. I spent too many years believing that my freeze response was just me being lazy. I still deal with others treating me that way, including my parents.

[starflowerr.]

I get break lights whenever people ask me to correct my behavior, even for small things like having a water bottle out in a food and drink free library. I couldn't understand why I started crying during math class in high school after I answered a question wrong. Through therapy I have realized how often child me was pinned down and hurt in the name of "discipline." Thanks for these videos; they are helpful for healing. I am also a Cinema Therapy fan.

[Lydgendary]

I've wondered for some time if I have CPTSD, but struggled with the idea that the things I went through were "not traumatic enough". I'm very calm 99% of the time but I'll have very strong emotional reactions to seemingly innocuous things which cause me to try and completely shut down and off from people. I'm pretty good at catching myself when I'm doing it these days but it's frustrating and can cause me to go in a spiral of abandonment fears or thinking I'm going insane. Days that I have this badly I'll try and leave the house for a walk, I do find seeing other people go about their lives can be grounding. Videos like this definitely help too

[mufasa]

This made me cry. This is how I feel everyday. Like I’m out of control, like inside of me is this horrible war being fought and I’m trying to suppress it. I feel like I’m waiting for the next bad thing and my mind assaults me with horrible thoughts. Things that could happen and I can’t control any of it. I am so stressed all the time. I don’t feel like myself. I feel like I’m drowning . I just want it to stop. I just want it to stop so much.

[thelogan]

I was bullied relentlessly for a year and a half from the age of 7 to the age of 9, ish because I wanted to be friends with both boys and girls, as a teenager I almost couldn't be in the same room as women, and as a 35 year old man I still haven't been in a relationship, even being seen socializing with women is a brake light for me.
A few years ago I was offered therapy for free while studying (my doctor referred me for my depression), and I can now watch movies without having to fast forward through the romantic parts, that was a huge thing for me. I don't think I'll ever get to a place where relations, love etc are realistic but I am actively looking for a therapist.

[LRG]

I think the most difficult part is when you try to talk to people and they say things like "yeah, but that's in the past" or "you're not a kid anymore, you should move on". Who wants to open up after that?

[megancaffey]

I came to this channel after binge watching “Cinema Therapy” for a week. Jonathan had one episode where he talked about “Real Love and Post Childhood Stress Disorder” by Greg Baer. I had determined that I probably had PTSD from my past but didn’t have a full understanding of what that all meant. I was brought into this world with a mom and sister who have manic OCD, a dad with anger issues and alcoholism, paternal grandma with multiple personality disorder, paternal grandfather with who is a ranging alcoholic, and maternal grandparents who passed away during a pivotal time in my childhood development. My maternal grandparents death hit me harder than many can comprehend because in a world of “crazy” they were my sense or normalcy and were the only two that loved me unconditionally, especially my maternal grandmother. Growing up I had to care for my mom and sister while my dad went to work. I was not only the home caretaker but also the emotional support for my father starting at the age of 8; I’m 30 now. I was told I was the problem in the family (despite my efforts to everything right), not a trusted member of the family, and told repeatedly that no one loved me or I didn’t love the family. This criticism got worse as I got older and eventually moved away to the other side of the country. I developed a uncontrollable tactics or “freeze” and dissociation. I went through a series of sexual partners, many of which were rapes or abusive boyfriends and eventually a divorce, jobs, living locations, etc. always searching for anyone or anything that would accept me for me but never found it. In 2019, my mom attempted suicide multiple times with narcotics and later explained that I was one of the contributing factors. I have been in and out of therapy trying to understand how to break my spiraling cycle of my hell. But nobody ever noticed because I was always running and always displaying acts of greatness despite my crippling fears and constant running. Today, I am deployed and what I find interesting is the attacks I am experiencing on base do not affect me but rather my coworkers not trusting me or outcasting me triggers me more. What I have learned, reading Greg Baer’s book, is I am not a problem and if I can love myself unconditionally it won’t matter if others do not. That being said I am a far cry from finding a sense of belonging or being able to handle the traumas I have endured but knowing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that I can create my own happiness not based on rewards or approvals is the light I follow. Thank you Jonathan for giving me resources to help me understand and work through my life. I look forwards to a day where I can wake up and know that this life is my greatest masterpiece and not my biggest regret. Still searching for that one partner I can share my life with (my number one goal in life) but I now know that by loving myself unconditionally, I can extend that love to another and not constantly be searching for my Prince Charming to save me and take me away.

[kimberleedirkson]

I'm only recently beginning to understand the trauma I went through as a child in a pentecostal church. I don't struggle with fears of eternal damnation from leaving. I used to be trapped in church for hours, and brought in front of prophets/apostles who'd yell and shake me until I was suitably possessed by the Spirit. There's not a lot to read about experiences like mine. But thankfully the mindfulness practices still apply and am hopeful to feel better in time.

[auroama]

I have had all 3 reactions mentioned in the video. I have suffered on several occasions psychological violence, threat of physical violence, manipulation, gaslighting. When I have seen things similar to this, I have reacted by running from the place, or shutting down, because I couldn't escape, whether by locking myself in some place like a bathroom, a car, unable to function, reason, simply trembling or in extreme fear. I have had panic attacks when I was in places where I experienced situations of chronic violence, where my body and mind could no longer take being there. I just wanted to run.

I hurted myself, not eating well, not moving from my bed, not speaking, being a zombie.



I had to quit my job a few years ago, because I put up with things like that for too long. I have had people in my life who, knowing this information, used it to hurt me even more or manipulate me.

The vast majority do not understand what this is. They believe that the simple will, will make you feel better. That you will be better with time. There are people who can do it. I tried, but I couldn't. And after failing at that, my way of trying to help myself was to ask for help. It was to go to the psychologist, where I went from being more or less stable to beginning a serious depression. From that, to recommending me that I needed go to the psychiatrist, where I began to take medicine, to help me along with therapy, to be better. It has been and still is a long road.

Sometimes I feel better, I have managed to leave behind the daily nightmares, sleeping badly, getting up badly and being in a constant position of defense.

I have learned, constantly falling into the same patterns at times, that I do not deserve to be treated badly, and that I have the right to be surrounded by people who give me positive things, and not violence. I have learned to say no. Something simple for other people, but it was not for me. I have always put other people above me, and sometimes I still do.

But I learned to say no, and to set limits. And many people, faced with this, made me feel bad, were violent, or told me that it was because "I didn't love them." Those people were being violent and manipulative with me, again.


Today, I have managed to get away from those people. I'm still in treatment. I'm still learning. I'm not 100% fine, because I still have relapses, but I'm better. I can say no without feeling bad. I can set limits without feeling bad. I can stand up for myself. And that makes me feel like I've moved on, at least a little.



There is still a long way to go, but I know that little by little, I am on the right track.



This video has made me understand one of the mechanisms that I have had. The one with shut down. The one of putting together pieces of why, since I know it wasn't for one thing, it was for everything, suddenly, coming out of a "box" of my mind, coming back out. Once again.



Thanks for these videos.

To all the people who are dealing with this, and who relapse, I tell you that it is difficult, and there are good, bad and very bad days, that it is a long journey and that sometimes you feel that tomorrow is not worth it. But I recommend asking for help. It's okay to ask for help. You have endured so much, that your mind is trying to fight and take care of those bad things that you have experienced.

Try to seek help that makes you feel better, in my case it was therapy, getting away from the people who hurt me, little by little, and if any alarm appeared from people who I realized had the same patterns that can hurt me, try to get away. All this is done little by little. It is taking me years, but I am rebuilding myself little by little. Is not easy. Sometimes I think, that I will have to deal with this takes my life. But at least I'm learning to be better little by little.

I hope that you can and can be better. I hope you can get through the bad and dark days. The days of storms in your mind. The days where you feel like you don't want to fight anymore. that you are tired I still have days like this. But I'm trying to get over them. I hope you can too.

Again, thank you for theses videos.

[its.jessie]

this hit so close to home i couldn't finish watching, but thank you for making this sort of content! i found this channel through Cinema Therapy -- big fan~

[MendedLight]

We hope you enjoyed this video! Leave us a comment and let us know!

[gqsmspi]

Therapy and yoga - two things that help me to cope with trauma

[Jojo]

I never heard about the freeze state being even more fundamental than fight or flight before. I tend to get it in some social situations where I feel very unwanted by a person that is important to me - I just never realised it was quite probably an even worse level of trauma than I thought. My ex actually felt slighted because he kept asking me what was wrong and I literally could not tell him. Even if I had know the precise issue, I was/am physically unable to talk in that state. More people should know about this sort of issue. Negative reactions to being in that state end up making it so much worse.

[mamaof]

The Body Keeps The Score is a life changing book! It’s helped me a ton in dealing with the trauma I have and continue to experience daily. EMDR, therapy, getting enough sleep, healthy boundaries and expectations, noticing my anxiety spiraling and reaching out, meditation, being honest with those around me about my triggers and possible/likely reactions and taking my meds have all helped. Nothing has kicked it, but I’m in a better place than I was a year ago, and a year before that, and a year before that.

[ericaavery]

I have fibromyalgia and after I learned about the physical affects of my past trauma, everything made sense.

[ashnelson]

I've recently been struggling with my past trauma of domestic violence in my childhood and it's always made me ashamed and gave me anxiety of not being enough. A couple triggers in school recently have made moving through life harder and I'm still confused on how to process everything. I didn't really think that I could be struggling with PSTD long after the traumatizing events have occured, or that I was just being lazy or a coward for not moving on with my life. Over the years, I've built a life and I'm happy with it, but sometimes it's still really hard not to curl up and hide. When I do feel scared, hopeless, or overwhelmed, these videos are a big help in me understanding what's happening to my mind is a real issue that I didn't make up. Thank you for putting this content out there, it really does make a difference.

[persevere]

I had the most horrific flashback from decades ago those who have experienced this can understand the re living of this. . Thank you for this video

[emilywilson]

Personally I haven’t experienced a trauma like this but I truly want to learn and understand what unfortunately many people have experienced. I am going to be a foster parent so learning about trauma will hopefully help me understand and work with kids in the system. Thank you for this very informative video.

[margaretvargus]

I cried... no, I bawled my eyes out the entire video. I didn’t know I was passed the two stages and I feel myself disassociating from everyday life and the things that I loved that made me who I was.