“When free of turbulence and anxiety, we can know the ocean of God that swells within.” Mark Nepo
Survivors of childhood trauma experience inner turbulence even though they may seem okay on the outside. Trauma changes the brain and can stay lodged within our bodies. Some of us experience anxiety, others depression, or a combination of both. We are master survivors who know how to keep plodding on, but at some point, we realize we can do more than survive. We can thrive.
Anxiety is one of the effects of trauma. The younger we are when trauma starts, the more we will suffer from anxiety and other trauma effects. Trauma harms the brain and puts us into a fight-or-flight loop. The reason is that activity in the amygdala, the brain’s danger detector, increases. Increased amygdala activity means you become easily triggered and feel threatened when a threat does not exist. “This can make a person more likely to react to triggers, especially emotional ones,” according to the Australian organization Blue Knot Foundation.
Here is a list of interesting studies linking increased amygdala activity to childhood trauma:
Researchers looked at 20 depressed patients with and without a history of childhood trauma. Researchers found a link between physical abuse and amygdala activity, suggesting a link exists between childhood trauma and depression.
Researchers studied 12 female PTSD patients who endured physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse before they turned 18. They found that the severity of sexual abuse correlated with the size of the amygdala.
Researchers conducted structural MRI scans on 149 children aged eight to 17 years old with and without exposure to physical abuse, sexual abuse, or domestic violence participated. They found an association between childhood violence exposure and an increased amygdala.
We free ourselves from the fight or flight loop. We can calm our amygdala. Neuroplasticity means the brain can change. Meditation and tapping both help me release trauma. I go into detail about both below.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week course developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the 1980s. The Palouse Mindfulness website describes it as a “blend of meditation, body awareness, and yoga.” It is also “learning through practice and study how your body handles (and can resolve) stress neurologically.”
Studies show that it helps childhood trauma survivors. Researchers looked a 27 childhood sexual abuse survivors who participated in an MBSR course and daily practiced mindfulness skills. They found after eight weeks a 65 percent reduction in depressive symptoms. They also found a significant reduction in symptoms of numbing/avoidance. In another study, researchers conducted MRIs on the brains of people who participated in an MBSR class. What they found is decreased amygdala activity. In a study of 155 adults, researchers looked at MRI images of those practicing mindfulness and found decreased amygdala activity.
Tapping
“Why is my heart pounding out of my chest?” I asked myself last year after about six weeks in lockdown. While I have struggled with anxiety since childhood, I never experienced constant heart palpitations. They would come on around late afternoon and last until just before bedtime. I tried deep breathing, but it did not work. It felt like a drummer lived inside my chest and pounded away every night.
I became desperate to stop my heart from constantly pounding. I decided I needed to meditate, that calming my brain down would help. I looked at various meditation apps and found one called The Tapping Solution. I downloaded the app onto my phone and watched the introduction video. I quickly discovered that the app uses a therapeutic technique called tapping or emotional freedom technique combining acupressure and modern psychology. From the first time I did a tapping session my heart palpitations stopped.
There is a reason why. The tapping stopped my amygdala, the brain’s smoke detector, from going into a constant fight-flight-or-freeze loop. Nick Ortner, developer of The Tapping Solution app and author of a book by the same name, describes how tapping helps trauma survivors: “Tapping seems to turn off the amygdala’s alarm--deactivating the brain’s arousal pathways. Tapping on the meridian endpoints sends a calming response to the body, and the amygdala recognizes it’s safe.”
I strongly urge you to see a psychiatrist if you are suffering from severe anxiety and depression. If you are in need of encouragement, email me at thepossiblepath@gmail.com.
Note on picture: I took this photo four years ago at the beach in Cayucos on California’s Central Coast. It is a place where Central Valley residents go to escape the summer heat. The mercury frequently tops 105 degrees; last September, it hit a record 116. The Central Coast’s mild and cool temperatures are a welcome respite from the heat.
Resources
The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo
The Tapping Solution: A Revolutionary System for Stress-Free Living by Nick Ortner
Free MBSR courses: Palouse Mindfulness
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First of all I love the picture and I think you seem to be healing at an extraordinary time frame