Emotional Trauma’s Surprising Effect on Children

A study, published recently in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, finds that emotional trauma at a young age may cause changes to the brain that are similar to head trauma. The study results suggest a childhood trauma could cause inflammation in the brain that’s similar to what is seen in concussion, this inflammation could linger. This could lead to long-term consequences such as the development of psychiatric disorders later. “Knowing the levels of any biological marker will help us identify patients at higher risk and suggest comprehensive, intensive treatment from the beginning”. A similar study of soldiers who were exposed to intense stress reported similar findings.

For the full article: http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/03/emotional-traumas-surprising-effect-on-children/

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Control Your Anger by Managing Your Stress

Control your Anger

There is a myth that anger has to be expressed or else you will explode into a violent rage. The anger will build up like water behind a dam. If you do not express it, then it will come bursting out all at once and destroy everything in the process. Research strongly differs with this myth. The research shows that displaying your anger does not benefit. The more you act angry or think angry thoughts, the more you feel angry. Anger feeds on itself. It never helps to hit walls or pillows or to yell. It just makes you act angrier.

What does anger do to people?

1. Anger stuns and frightens people.
2. It makes people feel bad about them. The more anger you express, the less effectiveness your anger becomes.
3. People distance themselves from you.
4. Anger cuts off from genuine closeness.
5. The more you act aggressively, the more you want to continue the attack and really rub people’s noses in it.
6. Anger causes continued aggression from both parties.
7. It does not stop. It goes on and on, fueling itself in the process.
8. It leads to rigidity. Both parties become stuck and inflexible.
9. It causes the other person to act defensive and resistant.
10. People shield themselves from your anger by avoiding you.

Anger people feel like victims caught in a trap. They desire closeness but have a fear of abandonment. Their friends seem selfish and insensitive, their employers seem cheap and uncaring, and their lovers seem unappreciative and withholding. Life is no fun.

Anger is your choice

You do not have to act angry. You can solve your problems in other ways. Until now, anger has been automatic. It has been a decision made without thinking or a choice made out of habit. You spent years thinking that anger was saving you or helping you while all the time it was hurting you. You want to be loved and accepted. Anger never will get you that. Believe it or not, you can feel angry and act in a way that is not more productive. The function of anger is to stop stress. Your problem is stress, no anger.

Anger helps you to cope with stress in several ways:

1. Anger blocks the awareness of pain.
2. It discharges high levels of fear, hurt, guilt, and sadness.
3. It discharges the pain that develops when your needs are frustrated.
4. It erases the guilt.
5. It places the blame on someone else.

There are many ways of discharging stress other than acting angry. You can cry, exercise, work, make a joke, write in your journal, go through a relaxation exercise, verbalize your feelings, ask for what you want, problem solve, listen music, and many other things.

http://www.mindfuljourneycenter.com/control-your-anger-by-managing-your-stress/

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FULL LIFE

Full Life

If you want a full life, you need to transform your way of living. We present six ways suggested by Sergio Sinay, Gestalt Therapist for a Full Life:

1. All your acts should be based on what you want. Whatever you need. When you want to achieve some goal ask yourself What is the purpose of this goal in my life? Does this goal help me to live in a state of fullness, according to my actual needs, beliefs, priorities and values?

2. Your decisions and actions should respond to a life that allows you to live a life with meaning and purpose. And that this project meets your values, beliefs, intuition and inner voice. Later on, you will enjoy your journey through life.

3. Do not propose your achievements based on the experiences and expectations of others, without any purpose or personal meaning. Doing so may lead you to an unfulfilled and unhappy life.

4. Learn and practice a life of significance and do not confuse being happy with accomplishments or material or superficial possessions only. You could get hurt and frustrated.

5. Give a personal sense to who you are, your life, what you do and what you decide at any time.

6. Reflect on the actions that you perform daily. Be responsible and commit to the achievement.

http://www.mindfuljourneycenter.com/full-life/

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Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR)

Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR)

Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) is a powerful tool for use in the rapid and successful resolution of virtually any trauma-related condition. TIR has also been successful in treating specific phobias, depression, and anxiety, as well as other unwanted feelings. Please contact us for more information and to learn how you can benefit from this technique. Visit: http://www.mindfuljourneycenter.com/traumatic-incident-reduction/

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The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous

The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous was established in 1935, when knowledge of the brain was in its infancy. It offers a single path to recovery: lifelong abstinence from alcohol. The debate over the efficacy of 12-step programs has been quietly bubbling for decades among addiction specialists, researchers have debunked central tenets of AA doctrine and found dozens of other treatments more effective. It has taken on new urgency with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which requires all insurers and state Medicaid programs to pay for alcohol- and substance-abuse treatment. The 12 steps are so deeply ingrained in the United States that many people, including doctors and therapists, believe attending meetings, earning one’s sobriety chips, surrender their ego, accept that they are “powerless” over booze, never taking another sip of alcohol, make amends to those they’ve wronged, and pray is the only way to get better.

To read the full article: http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/03/the-irrationality-of-alcoholics-anonymous/386255/?utm_source=SFG%2B

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Trauma and Nightmares

Trauma and Nightmares

Following a traumatic event people can experience nightmares within a few days or even the next day. Nightmares can be very vivid and interfere with the quality and quantity of rest a person is getting. This can affect the brain; the brain needs good and enough sleep to rest, to heal and to cope with a traumatic event. It is important to be able to deal with this because if the nightmares continue for more than a month and there are other symptoms then we can be dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This article offers some advice on how you can work through nightmares.        

For the full article: http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/when-trauma-follows-you-into-your-nightmares-0708144

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Immune response is linked to genetic markers for PTSD

Immune response is linked to genetic markers for PTSD

A new study of blood samples from US Marines has identified genetic markers associated with post-traumatic stress disorder that are also linked to the immune system response. The research team - from the US and UK - says the discovery could lead to new diagnostic techniques and treatments for the condition, as well as predict which individuals are most at risk for the disorder. The researchers explain that adopting this approach could lead to the creation of a blood panel of biomarkers that could help identify which individuals are at risk of PTSD. What is more, they say the molecular information from blood samples could be used to develop personalized prevention and treatment strategies for the disorder.

To read the full article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290691.php

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