Part 2: Neurobiology of Trauma
The nervous system is the intersection between psychology and chiropractic
(I’m taking a course called The Neurobiology of Trauma. It is based on the latest technology on how the brain works. It is taught by psychologists. I wish I had known this forty years ago. Thought I’d post some ideas that may help you or someone you know.)
In Part 1 I gave the definition of trauma as an experience that overwhelms the brain’s ability to cope. I also gave some examples of experiences that might be traumatizing.
Not everyone will experience trauma from the same events. The course gives an example of a race car driver’s experience of a car wreck might not be traumatic for the driver. The driver has had similar experience on the track. It might be quite traumatic for those of us who have not experienced rolling a car.
The first part of the brain to be activated is the brain stem. That is where the nerves for sight and hearing connect. We actually begin to act before we are conscious of what is happening. We’ll get back to the brain stem in a bit.
An experience of people who have had severe trauma is the feeling of inescapability and helplessness. The brain can put these people in a state of paralysis. They feign death. If that doesn’t work to make the predator go away, the next stage is the release of hormones to deaden pain. I like to think of it as preparation to be eaten. We see it in animals. People can get stuck in either paralysis or hyper alertness. The problem is that the brain is not properly integrated.
The course talks about helping clients integrate thoughts, emotions and the body. Dr. Ogden said, “We work with cognitions and belief systems that are formed after trauma, which involves the cortex. We also have to work with the emotions, especially how to regulate those trauma-related emotions, like rage and terror – that has to do with the limbic system. Then, we also have to work with the body because that's where trauma impacts.”
The psychologists go on to talk about clients whose posture is tense. When a client has an emotion, the therapist can ask questions to help engage the cortex and integrate the emotion with thinking. The therapist can also have the client move to engage the body and integrate posture.
I promised to get back to the brain stem. As a chiropractor, one of the things I examine is posture. Subluxation of atlas (bone of the spine below the skull) can affect the brain stem and cause imbalance in posture. Adjustment removes the interference to the brain stem, allowing muscles to relax and posture is balanced.
So far, I haven’t seen anything in the course that mentions working with chiropractic. At one time, Palmer had three sanitariums studying the effect of chiropractic on mental conditions. Perhaps chiropractors and psychologists should be working together more.
Next time I’ll cover epigenetics and how you can live a longer, healthier life.