What Causes the Symptoms of Trauma-Related Disorders?
Jamie Marich, Ph.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS, RMT, edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D.This is a logical question to ask: Why do trauma and stress cause so many problems? People affected by trauma and stress may be asking this question in frustration.
In this section, we will attempt to answer the question as concisely as possible. First, we'll cover some of the basics about how the human brain goes about processing life experiences. Knowledge of the human brain is rapidly growing due to many advancements in neurobiology and related fields of study. Neurobiology is a fascinating and promising area of research; however, these topics are beyond the scope of this article. In this section we provide just enough information about the human brain to help you answer that niggling little question, "Why?" The interested reader can dive more deeply into this topic by reviewing the References and Resources sections.
When Fadalia had signed up to participate in a research study on trauma (Marich, 2010), she could have never predicted the path it would take. Fadalia reflected back on her personal recovery journey: "Before treatment, my thoughts, feelings, and experiences were all tangled up like a ball of yarn; I needed something to untangle them." Fadalia is an Iranian-American survivor of childhood sexual trauma, fundamentalist spiritual abuse, with more than 20 unsuccessful attempts at treating her heroin addiction. She described the treatment experience that finally freed her from her addiction, and started her on the path of healing, as the forum for untangling this yarn. Taking this metaphor a step further, once the yarn was untangled, she was able to knit a beautiful sweater out of it, a demonstration of reintegration or post-traumatic growth. At the time of her recollections, she had been three and a half years clean and sober, the longest she'd ever achieved in her adult life.
Many survivors of trauma can connect with Fadalia's metaphor of tangles and crossed wires in their head without even realizing it. For instance, abduction and torture survivor Jaycee Dugard viewed her 2011 memoir, A Stolen Life, as an attempt to "unravel" the damage that was done to her and to her family (p. viii). For survivors struggling with the impact of trauma on their lives, these twists and tangles in the neuronal networks of the human brain tend to occur at the more primitive levels of the brain.
Trauma and the Triune Brain
Resources
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Articles
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Introduction to Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
- Introduction to PTSD, Trauma, Abuse and Other Stress-Related Disorders
- What Are Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders?
- Physical and Emotional Trauma
- How is Trauma Different from Stress?
- What are Adverse Life Experiences?
- Can Grief and Loss Be Traumatic?
- Are Abuse and Neglect Types of Trauma?
- What is Complex Trauma?
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Signs and Symptoms of Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
- What are the Signs and Symptoms of Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders?
- Intrusive Symptoms
- Distressing Images, Thoughts, Memories
- Flashbacks, Dissociative Reactions
- Distressing Dreams and Nightmares
- Intense or Prolonged Psychological Distress
- Physiological Distress or Body Memory
- Intrusive Symptoms: Children's Re-Enactment As Re-Experiencing
- Avoidance Symptoms
- Negative Thoughts and Feelings: The Cognitions and Mood Symptoms
- Arousal and Reactivity Symptoms
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Diagnostic Descriptions of Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
- The Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders: Diagnostic Descriptions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Criteria
- Acute Stress Disorder Criteria
- Adjustment Disorders Criteria
- Reactive Attachment Disorder & Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder Criteria
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What Causes the Symptoms of Trauma-Related Disorders?
- What Causes the Symptoms of Trauma-Related Disorders?
- Trauma and the Triune Brain
- Reptilian Brain of Survival and Mammalian Brain
- Trauma and the Neomammalian Brain (Cerebral Cortex)
- Trauma's Physical and Emotional Toll on the Body
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Treatment of Trauma, PTSD, Abuse and Other Stressor-Related Disorders
- The Treatment of Trauma, PTSD, Abuse, and Other Stressor-related Disorders
- Revolutionary New Treatments For PTSD, Trauma, Abuse, and Other Stress-Related Disorders
- The Basic Framework of Trauma Treatment and Recovery
- Finding and Choosing a Trauma Therapist
- Evidence-Based Practices: How Do I Know If a Trauma Treatment Is Effective?
- Traditional Cognitive Therapies
- Hybrid Cognitive Therapies: Mindfulness and Cognitive Therapy
- Exposure and Visualization Therapies
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Related Approaches
- Body, Movement & Expressive Arts Therapies
- Energy Therapies & Other Innovative Approaches
- Feedback-Informed Treatment
- Medication for Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
- Combination Models on the SAMHSA Registry
- A Final Note on Treatment Options
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Conclusion, Resources and References
- Resilience, Resolution, Reconciliation, and Recovery: Some Closing Remarks
- Helpful Websites
- References
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Dealing with the Effects of Trauma - A Self-Help Guide
- Dealing with the Effects of Trauma Introduction
- Help From Health Care Providers, Counselors and Groups
- Things You Can Do Every Day to Help Yourself Feel Better
- The Healing Journey
- Moving Forward on Your Healing Journey
- Further Resources
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Introduction to Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
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News
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Book & Media Reviews
- A War of Nerves
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- Children Changed by Trauma
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- Helping Children Cope With Disasters and Terrorism
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- New York September 11
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- Raising Kids in an Age of Terror
- Remaking a World
- Remembering Trauma
- Roadmap to Resilience
- Spectral Evidence
- The Heart of Trauma
- The Limits of Autobiography
- The Little Friend
- The Only Girl in the World
- The September 11 Photo Project
- Trauma in the Lives of Children
- Traumatic Pasts
- Traumatic Relationships and Serious Mental Disorders
- What Have We Done
- With Their Eyes
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Links
- [1] Articles
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Videos
- PTSD Warning Signs
- Therapies for PTSD
- Art can heal PTSD's invisible wounds
- PTSD Strikes on the Home Front
- Suffering Soldiers: A Look at PTSD
- Anxiety, Trauma and How Prolonged Exposure Therapy Works For PTSD
- PTSD: Stress and Resilience
- Bessel van der Kolk on Understanding Trauma
- How to Overcome PTSD
- Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD
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6 more
- Prolonged Exposure for PTSD
- PTSD Treatment: Know Your Options
- What is PTSD?
- Disaster Anniversaries
- Psychological Effects of Disasters: Identifying the Problem and Helping Individuals Cope
- How to Manage PTSD
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More Information
- An Interview with Pat Bracken, MD, Ph.D. on Post-Modern Psychiatry and the Social Context of Trauma
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Edna Foa, Ph.D. on the Nature and Treatment of PTSD
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Frank Ochberg, MD on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Victoria Lemle Beckner, Ph.D. on Treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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