5 Strategies to Get Out of a Trauma loop

“What causes us to suffer from anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a traumatic event in our lives?” “Is there a physical aspect to it, or is it just mentally driven?” Answers to these concerns may lie in a better understanding of the limbic system and the trauma loops.

Inflammatory and Immune Responses

It’s easy to see how the limbic system, which is composed of the brain’s most fundamental parts, developed to serve as a safety net for your physical well-being. Amygdalae, hypothalamus and hippocampus are part of the limbic system of the brain.

The amygdala is the brain’s fear region, where survival information is processed and emotional memories are encoded.

An important part of our body’s health system, the hypothalamus connects the neurological system with the endocrine system through the pituitary gland.

Understanding the meaning and absorbing new knowledge is done by the hippocampus, which also processes and retains information.

The cingulate gyrus controls the body’s reaction to noxious stimuli by processing pain and perceived discomfort.

How Trauma Loops Get Started

Naturally, our brains activate a stress response in our bodies after a traumatic experience (including physical, mental, or sensory trauma). This reaction aims to protect us from harm and ensure our survival. It is possible for our limbic system neural networks to become damaged and over-reactive to ordinary stresses when the traumatic stressor is viewed as particularly dangerous. As a result of the trauma looping, our bodies become hypersensitive to everything that reminds them of the original trauma. When our brains are preoccupied with ensuring our survival, all other physical processes suffer.

Chronic and mysterious illnesses might arise as a result of the brain’s trauma looping mechanism, which misinterprets dangerous inputs. Misinterpretations of stimuli may lead to PTSD or depression, which in turn perpetuates the trauma cycle in our thoughts and feelings. Your limbic system’s dysfunction causes it to mistakenly interpret inputs as dangerous, which is why your emotions aren’t “all in your brain.”

When we’re tired or stressed, it’s difficult to remember that we have options. To avoid the devastating effects of an ongoing trauma loop cycle, you must pay heed to your body-mind’s warning signs. It will take some time to get the hang of it, so be patient with yourself.

KNOWING YOUR BODY AND YOUR MIND: A GUIDE TO TRAUMA

In order to understand how the brain and body respond to trauma, it is necessary to look at many different regions of the brain. The limbic system, which is situated in the middle of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, and the brain stem make up the limbic system.

Adrenaline floods the body after a stressful occurrence, and the amygdala, a component of the limbic system, stores the memories. the event’s emotional importance, as well as its intensity and impulsiveness, are stored in the amygdala

In a roller coaster, for example, your sensory input includes “fear, speed, stress, thrill, but not life-threatening.” Since it’s a three-minute journey, the amygdala can deduce the emotional impact of the experience.

A person’s amygdala has the visual pictures of trauma recorded as sensory fragments, which indicates that the memory of trauma doesn’t store like a story, but instead by how our 5-senses were undergoing the trauma at the moment it occurred. Visual, auditory, and gustatory memories may all be accessed via the sense of touch.

As a result, the brain may be quickly activated by sensory information following trauma, perceiving typical conditions as threatening. Previously, the sound of a barbeque was indistinguishable from that of an explosion. The brain is unable to distinguish what is normal from what is hazardous because the sensory pieces are misconstrued.

The logical section of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, is located at the front of the brain and is responsible for processing and thinking, as well as helping us understand what we hear and read. The prefrontal cortex may shut down when individuals are in a fight, flight, or freeze state after a traumatic event. Disorganized and overloaded collection of emotional or physical stress, the brain is put into a survival mode and shuts down its ability to process information. The metabolic shutdown has the effect of permanently imprinting a strong stress response.

Coping with a traumatic event

If you’ve ever experienced a terrible incident or sequence of horrific events, you’ve experienced trauma. After such incidents, it’s usual to feel powerless, horrified, and confronted with the possibility of suffering major harm. There are a slew of options available for getting out of trauma loops.

1. You don’t have to be alone

Make contact with loved ones. If you’ve had a similar experience, reach out to those who have. It’s possible they’re experiencing some of the same emotions you are. After a stressful occurrence, open the channels of communication as soon as possible. It’s critical for your healing process.

2. Seek the advice of an expert

Stress as a result of a traumatic occurrence may be debilitating. Mood disorders such as sadness and the blues might set in. Make an appointment with a local mental health professional if your trauma loop is so severe that they are interfering with your daily routine.

3. Join a Group to Get Support

After a traumatic event, it might be beneficial to share your experiences with others who have gone through the same thing or are currently going through it. Groups like this may not only raise you up, but they can also provide you with advice on how to handle the situation. Local support groups may be found via referrals from your physician or other mental health professionals, or you can search online for one.

4. Recognize It and Deal With It

To heal from trauma, you must accept your memories and the things that cause them without avoiding them, no matter how tempting this may seem. It’s critical to face your emotions head-on if you want to deal with them in a manner that aids your progress.

5. Pay Attention to Your Body

You’ll know what to do to heal from trauma looping symptoms if you listen to your body and mind. Eat a nutritious diet. You should take a break whenever you can. Keep doing things that make you smile. Take a nice, long soak in the tub. Establish a consistent bedtime and wake-up time in a cool, dark, and quiet room to help you get a good night’s sleep. Read. Do something with your buddies. Take a leisurely walk. Go to a baseball game and take in the atmosphere. Observe a play. Take some time for yourself and do something that makes you happy. Moreover, try meditation practices like focusing on your breathing. Apart from that, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Neuroplasticity are some effective methods to get rid of the loops.

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