Trauma survivors can capitalize on this plasticity to heal. A traumatized brain tends to experience excessive activation in areas related to fear, and reduced activation in "thinking" areas. Psychotherapy and mindfulness training can reduce activation in the fear center and allow for healthy emotional expression.
The functions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex that are affected by emotional trauma can also be reversed. The brain is ever-changing and recovery is possible.
EMDR therapy changes the way a traumatic memory is stored in your brain using eye movements or rhythmic tapping. This allows you to process the trauma so that you can remember the event without reliving it.
Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas.
PTSD is treatable and with professional help your brain can return to normal functioning. The leading evidence-based treatment for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR).
Your brain is equipped with an alarm system that normally helps ensure your survival. With PTSD, this system becomes overly sensitive and triggers easily. In turn, the parts of your brain responsible for thinking and memory stop functioning properly.
On a brain scan, a person with PTSD may show a smaller hippocampus, increased amygdala function, or increased cortisol levels in response to stress, according to a report from the Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience.
1) Exercise: Having a good workout shortly after a stressful experience will help your brain get rid of the stress chemicals that cause negative effects. Exercise also helps your hippocampus to grow, helping you concentrate, keep your sense of humor, catch yourself before an error, make decisions, and learn new tasks.
There is no definitive cure for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there are many types of treatment that can alleviate the symptoms. There are various therapy techniques, as well as evidence that medication may be useful for people struggling with symptoms of PTSD.
PTSD patients whose symptoms increased over time showed accelerated atrophy throughout the brain, particularly brainstem and frontal and temporal lobes. Lastly, for the sample as a whole greater rates of brain atrophy were associated with greater rates of decline in verbal memory and delayed facial recognition.
In fact, depending on the severity of the injury, recovery time for a TBI may vary from a few weeks to six or more months. Each person reacts differently to injury and illness. Thus, recovery time will vary between individuals. However, the length of recovery time for TBI depends on how long a patient is unconscious.
Taking this variability into account, it usually takes several months to over a year for your brain to rewire. “Some improvements are seen after 3 months, such as some improvement in [the] prefrontal cortex and the ability to make better decisions,” says Lopez.
The Healing Process
It might seem like trauma does irreversible damage to your brain--that's not true. Our brains are extremely adaptable. Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to form new connections, explains why we can rewire our brains to reverse trauma's damaging effects.
People experiencing trauma have significant effects on their brains, leading to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Victims of trauma, particularly those who develop PTSD may have their brain “rewired” in a sense due to their exposure to trauma.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after a very stressful, frightening or distressing event, or after a prolonged traumatic experience. Types of events that can lead to PTSD include: serious accidents. physical or sexual assault.
Your brain does eventually heal itself. This neuroplasticity or “brain plasticity” is the more recent discovery that gray matter can actually shrink or thicken; neural connections can be forged and refined or weakened and severed. Changes in the physical brain manifest as changes in our abilities.
PTSD does not always last forever, even without treatment. Sometimes the effects of PTSD will go away after a few months. Sometimes they may last for years – or longer. Most people who have PTSD will slowly get better, but many people will have problems that do not go away.
CPTSD is a serious mental health condition that can take some time to treat, and for many people, it's a lifelong condition. However, a combination of therapy and medication can help you manage your symptoms and significantly improve your quality of life.