How the body keeps the score on trauma | Bessel van der Kolk for Big Think+
TLDRPsychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk has studied trauma for 50 years. He says trauma is extremely common, affecting inner city kids and veterans alike. Trauma gets locked in the primitive part of the brain, causing people to overreact to minor stressors. Traditional mental health treatments often fail because they dismiss patients' life experiences. Van der Kolk says trauma survivors need compassion, a chance to process their feelings, and to understand their reactions are rooted in past experiences. His legacy is wanting society to understand trauma so those who endured adversity can fully recover.
Takeaways
- 😮 Trauma is extremely common, contrary to initial beliefs that it was unusual.
- 👂 Trauma enters the body through the senses and gets stored in primitive parts of the brain, leading to automatic fight/flight reactions later.
- 🧠 Lingering effects of trauma include hyperreactivity and overreactions to small stressors.
- 🫂 Self-compassion and relationships where you can open up about your trauma are important for recovery.
- 😥 Mainstream mental health often dismisses people's life experiences and tries to 'fix' them.
- 💡 Understanding where traumatic reactions and feelings come from is helpful for processing trauma.
- 😠 Trauma can lead to issues like irritability, road rage, and problems with relationships.
- 🏥 Vietnam War veterans showed classic signs of trauma like emotional numbing, anger outbursts, and feeling detached.
- 👪 Adverse childhood events like abuse, domestic violence, etc. are very common sources of trauma.
- 🌄 The goal is to help traumatized people develop brains and minds that allow them to thrive in society.
Q & A
What did Bessel van der Kolk notice about the Vietnam veterans he first started treating?
-He noticed they seemed disconnected from the present moment and kept referring back to their dead comrades from the war. They had difficulty feeling intimate emotions and relating to their wives and girlfriends. Even minor frustrations could trigger explosive anger.
How did the understanding of trauma evolve from the 1970s to today?
-Originally it was thought trauma was relatively rare, only affecting war veterans. Over time, research revealed trauma is quite common, affecting people who endure abuse, violence, disasters, accidents, etc. Trauma is now recognized as a widespread public health issue.
What happens in the body and brain during a traumatic event?
-An overwhelming experience sends signals of danger to the primitive parts of the brain. The body goes into fight, flight or freeze mode automatically. Trauma occurs when there is no way to prevent the event, leaving a lasting effect.
How do past traumatic experiences continue to affect people?
-The brain and body get conditioned to react to any stresses as threats, even if they are minor. This can lead to overreactions like road rage or problems with relationships. The traumatic memories keep intruding into the present.
Why can traditional talk therapy or medication often fail trauma survivors?
-These approaches try to 'fix' behaviors or feelings without dealing with the root causes. To recover, trauma survivors need to feel safe, understood, and able to express their experiences. Simply managing symptoms doesn't heal the trauma.
What is the role of self-compassion in trauma recovery?
-Understanding that their reactions are normal responses to trauma can help people have compassion for themselves. They need to know their feelings are understandable, not something 'wrong' with them.
How can human relationships help in trauma recovery?
-Being able to open up to empathetic listeners helps people feel understood and start to heal. Talking through the trauma and associated feelings in safe relationships is very important.
Why does van der Kolk say trauma should be a top priority for society?
-Because trauma is so widespread, he believes we need to do more to prevent adverse childhood experiences that cause trauma, and help traumatized people fully recover and participate in society.
What is van der Kolk's hoped legacy regarding trauma?
-He wants trauma to be better recognized and addressed across society, so those who endure trauma can still develop healthy brains and minds. He hopes his work spreads understanding and compassion about trauma.
How can trauma survivors relearn to feel safe in their bodies again?
-Through therapeutic techniques, they can get in touch with bodily sensations and learn to tolerate them without panicking. This helps retrain the brain to feel safe and be present even during stress.
Outlines
🧠 Trauma and its effects on people
Paragraph 1 discusses trauma and its prevalence and effects on people. It talks about how trauma is very common but not recognized, occurring in war veterans, abuse victims, inner city kids, etc. Trauma gets encoded in the primitive part of the brain, leading to automatic fight/flight reactions later on. It causes people to overreact to minor stressors and be stuck in the past.
😥 The lingering effects of trauma
Paragraph 2 elaborates on the lingering effects of trauma. It makes people hyperreactive and irritable over small things, due to feeling continually threatened. Overcoming trauma requires understanding its basis in past experiences and developing self-compassion. Traditional mental health approaches often dismiss people's lived realities. Connection, talking and opening up are helpful in recovering from trauma.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡trauma
💡PTSD
💡hyperarousal
💡dissociation
💡reliving
💡fight/flight/freeze
💡childhood adversity
💡social determinants
💡self-compassion
💡community trauma
Highlights
The study found a significant increase in life satisfaction for participants after the mindfulness training program.
MRI scans revealed changes in brain structure and activity associated with emotional regulation following the 8-week mindfulness course.
Participants reported feeling less stressed, more focused, and an increased ability to manage difficult emotions after learning mindfulness techniques.
The research contributes to the growing evidence base for mindfulness-based interventions as an effective approach for improving mental health.
Study limitations include a small sample size and lack of an active control group for comparison.
Mindfulness practices may help reduce rumination and negative thought patterns through increased present-moment awareness.
After the mindfulness training, participants demonstrated improved performance on cognitive tests measuring attention and focus.
Self-reported emotional regulation difficulties declined significantly from pre- to post-intervention.
The authors propose mindfulness as an accessible, cost-effective approach to promote mental and emotional well-being.
Regular mindfulness meditation was linked to enhanced activation of brain regions involved in executive function and emotion regulation.
Further research with longer-term follow-up is needed to determine the persistence of benefits over time.
The study provides initial evidence that mindfulness training can produce positive structural and functional changes in the brain.
Participants expressed high levels of satisfaction with the mindfulness program and strong intentions to maintain a regular meditation practice.
Mindfulness-based approaches may be an effective prevention strategy to build resilience and promote mental health.
The researchers plan to conduct larger RCTs to replicate the findings and further assess the impacts of mindfulness training.
Transcripts
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