Trauma Plays the Long Game.
Last week, we discussed how trauma takes a shot at every part of us; the brain, the body and the heart. In today's conversation, we will consider just how far the impacts of trauma go.
An occurrence of trauma happens when a difficult circumstance overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. The brain’s unhealthy response in place of healthy coping skills are the symptoms. Unaddressed symptoms that stem from trauma continue to impact a person’s life. This is because of the way the brain is made. Our brains are made up of countless neural pathways that help our brains send information. The more a specific neural pathway is used, the more dominant that pathway becomes. Neural pathways are similar to a stream in the woods, the more water that flows through, the deeper and wider the stream becomes. When a traumatic experience occurs, new neural pathways are created. These neural pathways are how the symptoms experienced from trauma become unhealthy habits in a person’s life. Without confronting a traumatic experience, the neural pathways created continue to be a dominant force in that person’s life. The impact of trauma goes as far as rewiring the brain, changing and creating new neural pathways that lead to more difficulties.
On top of trauma’s life-long impacts, trauma has the ability to be passed on. Generational trauma is a transfer of traumatic experiences and stressors from one generation to the next. This can look like alcoholism that passes from mother to son or disordered eating transfering from parents to children. On a larger scale, generational trauma can be caused by oppression, lack of opportunities, intergenerational poverty and more. Unaddressed trauma or trauma that is experienced over time can also be key reasons why trauma is passed from one generation to another. The impact of generational trauma runs deep as it creates significant issues beyond those who experience the trauma firsthand.
The brain’s ability to change and the chance at lifelong trauma show just how far the impacts of trauma can go. Trauma plays the long game, having both immediate and long-term symptoms. These symptoms show the need for traumatic experiences to be addressed. While the changing neural pathways of the brain can seem like a discouraging fact, there is hope. The psychological field holds to this fact; the brain is plastic. Plasticity of the brain means that the brain can be shaped or molded. Just as the neural pathways of the brain are changed from trauma, they can be changed after traumatic experiences. Growth can happen and healthy life after trauma can leave a person even stronger than they were before.
