POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER:
When negative thoughts and emotions (resulting from a traumatic incident or series of highly stressful events) become a dominant part of a person's life, their bodies produce a chemical and hormonal response. The brain is in constant communication with their bodies via protein messengers (neural peptides) that influence the adrenal gland's secretion of the hormone Cortisol. This hormonal response works to break down fatty acids, giving a traumatized person the energy required to process and respond to traumatic memories and ongoing stressful events. Over time, excessive Cortisol levels increase the amount of free fatty acids, which breakdown white blood cells and ultimately weakens the immune system and devastate mental health. Just like a physical wound, left untreated, post-traumatic stress symptoms can deteriorate. The importance of trauma identification and treatment therefore is vital.WHAT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS? |
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ANXIETY: Excessive |
DEPRESSION: Excessive |
| Worry (anticipating adverse event) | Sadness |
| Attention to threat | Anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure) |
| Fast and sustained physiological arousal | Early morning insomnia |
| sychosomatic complaints | Hopelessness and helplessness |
| Difficulty in resting and going to sleep | Irritability |
| Shyness | Negative memory bias (uncontrollable negative recollection of past events) |
*Symptoms manifest in different ways in different people. Symptoms vary according to developmental age/stage, and culture. The above symptoms do not necessarily indicate the presence of PTSD, and likewise a person suffering PTSD may have different symptoms to those listed above (including flashbacks and hallucinations).
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The Cerebral Cortex is largely responsible for encoding and storing information (memory). But when we have a memory with strong emotion attached (for example, memory of a traumatic experience) we use a specific area of our brain called the Amygdala. Each time we activate the Amygdala with an emotional (or traumatic) memory, it sends a message to the Adrenal Gland (located above our kidneys) instructing it to release the 'stress hormone' Cortisol into our body. With the help of a racing heart, Cortisol is pumped throughout the body and turns itself into glucose at our muscle sites - giving us the energy to fight or run away from the stressful experience. However, because it is only a memory of a traumatic experience (being no "real" stressful environment to fight or run from), the energy is not used up, and therefore turns into fat (which starts acting like poison in the body). The unused energy makes it difficult to sleep, concentrate, learn, or function.
REHABILITATION
To effectively deal with trauma, we need to:
- Understand the psycho-physiological pathways of trauma symptoms (e.g., how the brain and body are connected).
- Teach innovative skills to influence psycho-physiological pathways (enhancing the brain-body connection)
- Gradually face traumatic memories and residual fears using a carefully structured process. This process aims to rearrange negative automatic thoughts in to a more intentional positive outlook, reinstate good feelings, control the way the body works, and improve social interaction and school performance.
With a thorough appreciation of psycho-physiological pathways (the way trauma is processed physiologically, emotionally, and cognitively), participants of EMPOWER Trauma Rehabilitation learn practical skills to take back control of their physiology, learn emotional regulations skills, deal with highly stressful and traumatic memories, and ultimately reconcile past hurts.
The primary objective of EMPOWER Trauma Rehabilitation is to equip participants with the capacity to change the emotional connectivity of their traumatic memories stored in the Amygdala region of the brain. PTSD patients will always hold on to their memories, but they no longer have to experience the raw negative emotions that often accompany the original trauma experience (as if they are reliving it each time they 'remember'). In this way, participants are set free from the power of negative emotions. If the memory and feelings change, the brain chemicals and body hormones will also change (ultimately improving sleep, eating patterns, promiscuous/ violent behaviour, paranoid tendencies, learning, and overall enjoyment of life). The EMPOWERMENT process is both efficient and highly effective.