Trauma and the Brain

we need to take a statement so we can establish what happened on Saturday night what time did you get back to David's flat what time I don't know can you give us an estimate I don't remember would your pals remember what time you left the club he seemed nice she don't remember much dead she I know I know we've got to waste more time on a da Fletcher we know how to deal with victims with a Jersey experience well some of us have had more years than others I'm in my plane I'll have you know Davide today's session is about trauma the latest in brain science will help you in your work I'll start with a tour of the parts of the human brain the reptilian brain maintains basic bodily functions the limbic system is also instinctive it deals with fear and pleasure for example you pat a dog it senses pleasure and without thinking wives its tail the neocortex is the site of logic imagination planning and control it's more sophisticated but because it's conscious it's slower than the older parts of the brain the amygdala is a key part of the limbic system it has one job to send danger and set off the alarm when it's a matter of survival the primitive parts of the brain override the conscious part there are three possible survival responses fight flight or the one that people don't think of freeze when the alarm goes off blood and oxygen are diverted to muscles adrenaline floods the body and all systems that are not crucial to survival are switched off normally the job of the hippocampus is to file memories so you can achieve them later but in times of danger it stopped filing memories which makes it harder to gather evidence later on instead the hippocampus switches to pumping cortisol what's useful about cortisol is it stops us feeling pain so we can focus on survival can anyone give me an example a farm an accident where a man carried a zone arm for a mile with luke feeling any pain yes excellent example it is an evolutionary safety mechanism which is fast and Sanctus in essence it's our bodies very clever way of protecting us to recap an example of the three parts of the brain working together you're standing at a bar your reptilian brain is keeping your heart beating you're enjoying the pleasure of a nice pint with your limbic system you're using your neocortex to work out if there's time for another before the last train what could happen to make the amygdala kick in what if this happened the way you'd respond would depend not on your logical brain but on your instinctive brain being glassed in a bar would be a traumatic experience who can give me another example of an event that can cause trauma war rape a car crash good yes trauma occurs when a person is overwhelmed by something beyond their control the survival brain takes over the rational brain it can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD with symptoms that last at least a month vicarious or secondary trauma is something you may experience if you deal with incidents such as rape or sudden death or think of Lockerbie Dunblane you are not superheroes having a brain makes you all vulnerable to secondary trauma it's important to understand that when trauma occurs again and again it can become complex PTSD such as in domestic abuse or child sexual abuse the alarm system in the brain becomes jammed memories are stuck in the limbic system so a trigger can set off the alarm the trigger could be anything a colour smell a sound a sensation no the indicators of trauma what should you be looking out for depression flying a lot yes that's one response and at the other end of the spectrum total numbness nightmares flashbacks stress good yes and they may feel sick also shame feelings of guilt inability to enjoy sex social isolation triggers people often feel overwhelmed by the symptoms of trauma this can lead to using alcohol or other drugs to block out memories or self-harm or dissociation when a person's mind detaches from reality indicators can be specific to the type of trauma say dental problems when someone who was orally abused avoids going to the dentist a victim of abuse might born strongly to her abuser this is known as traumatic bonding or Stockholm Syndrome and jumbled up memory when a person's normal recording of memories doesn't work can you recall any times you've seen that symptom what time I don't know a traumatized person may not seem like her usual self or may be hyper-vigilant on edge are being startled by everyday things every one is different you never know what impact trauma will have symptoms can change from day to day so what does all this mean in practice in your job a traumatized person's brain is protecting them but that normal human response of self-protection can get in the way of evidence gathering the US military has developed new trauma-informed interviewing techniques that you can use to work around this research shows that if someone seems vacant they could be distracted by their traumatic memories try to ground them by asking a simple non patronizing questions such as are you thirsty do you want a glass of water this can help bring them back to the here and now don't expect a logical linear story ask what can you recall just now find out what the victim physically felt or saw working this way from the instinctive sensory parts towards the logical parts of the brain you'll get more results in conclusion four things for you to take away trauma response is the brain in survival mode repeated abuse can make trauma symptoms worse in response to trauma people will behave in unexpected ways remember trauma is a normal human response to abnormal events we know that you've gone through a really painful experience but we need to take a statement to understand what happened on Saturday night are you able to tell us anything that you remember about is flat anything at all a dog barking are you able to remember any physical sensations or feelings that you had second it smoke can smell it now what was in through your mind I couldn't understand that I just couldn't move or even scream to freeze is a perfectly normal response so you start with the memories you doing start at the beginning you have to engage their feelings to get to the facts make sense check your professor getting all signs he honors well if it gives us usable evidence does life a new dog yet you

Channel: mediaco-op

Views: 642,704

Rating: 4.9391532 out of 5

Keywords: Trauma and the Brain, Truama, Sexual Abuse (Film Subject), Brain (Anatomical Structure), Psychological Trauma (Disease Or Medical Condition), Health (Industry)

Id: 4-tcKYx24aA

Length: 8min 44sec (524 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 21 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/Damnedifyoudo99]

Thanks, I love when people post stuff like this.

[u/jojoistheclown]

Great video!

[u/Fierce_Zebra_1]

This was a very useful & informative video.