How they differ and how they affect us.
Memories from trauma are different to normal memories.
This is what makes healing from trauma so difficult and can lead to PTSD/C-PTSD. Lets take a look at our brains!!
The amygdala part of our brain plays a huge role in handling our emotions, storing memories and linking senses to memories amongst other things. When we experiencing something dangerous or upsetting our fight or flight instinct kicks in, flooding our bodies with stress hormones.
Memories are not processed properly during this time, our bodies are too focused on survival.
I like to think of a messy filing cabinet. Usually, memories are neat, tidy and colour coded. Trauma comes in and essentially ransacks the place leaving a disorganised mess. These memories are left unprocessed.
Traumatic memories are very vivid, normal memories fade over time but many find traumatic ones do not change. Also, normal memories tend to have a beginning, middle and end. You guessed it traumatic memories often don't! They are fragmented and sadly you usually only remember the worst bits.
So what does all this mean for me?
Well it means at some point, you've gotta get this sh*t organised.
Ever thought of something sad that hasn't happened and made yourself upset? (hope it's not just me!) Whilst our brains are super clever, they can't always differentiate between real life and memory. When we recall certain things our brain may believe it is happening right there and then and we can have a physical/psychological reaction to it.
Trigger, a word that is so often thrown around but so misunderstood. I think of a trigger as being something that activates a trauma response such as a flashback, others may say different.
Our senses are heightened through stress hormones. Particular sounds, smells or tastes can be strongly connected to memories. Also, the heightened state of emotions during the event means your memories are emotionally charged.
This means that smells, noises, sights or feeling certain emotions can trigger your brain into recalling memories. And when you do recall these memories they may feel incredibly real, this can be very frightening and painful and sometimes results in panic attacks.
I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to try to process these memories, and this has to be done in a safe space. Ever flying the therapy flag, I encourage you to seek therapy from a professional.