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What are trauma reactions ?
SAID ALOUD
What are trauma reactions ?
Aim . To explain and understand how people react in traumatic situations .
Trainer . Human beings ( and animals ) developed very early on an alarm system that assisted them to survive . These basic physical responses to danger occur below consciousness and are controlled by an ancient part of the brain called the amygdala . They enable the body to react to danger before you have even started to think about what is happening . They can respond in as little as 1 / 100 of a second .
PART II : THE TRAINING
These physical responses , that we can also call survival strategies , are :
• Fight .
• Flight .
• Freeze .
• ‘ Playing dead ’/ submission . [ The Trainer posts the drawing below on the board .] Do you recognise these responses or have you seen them in others ?
The ‘ New Brain ’ ( explicit memory – consciousness )
Normal processing The snake ’ s image is processed : it is consciously observed and we consider whether it is dangerous .
Impulse / stimulus For example , the sight of something frightening , such as a snake .
The ‘ Old Brain ’ (‘ reptile-brain ’ / reflexes , basic survival )
The ‘ Mid-Brain ’ ( implicit memory ) The amygdala detects threats and separates important threats from non important ones ( which are processed normally ). The hippocampus places memories in their correct context ( in time and space ).
Catastrophic events happen so fast that , in order to survive , experiences are not processed in the ‘ new brain ’ but the ‘ midbrain ’ ( the ‘ emotional brain ’), and afterwards may be inaccessible to consciousness . They nevertheless control the body ( generating flashbacks , for example ). The snake ’ s image causes the amygdala to trigger immediate physical responses – fear , freeze or flight – well before the ‘ new brain ’ can process the stimulus or we consciously ‘ see ’ the snake .