Chronic Trauma Effects will vary depending on how severe, frequent and prolonged the traumatic events were. If we have someone to talk with, when we have someone to talk with, and how mature we are before the Type B (abuse) trauma makes a difference. These factors will also determine how much physical damage was done to my brain by the trauma and how impaired my brain has become as a result. The general effects of trauma can be divided in two ways: right versus left and back versus front.
Left and right – After trauma the brain favors the right-brain instead of the normal left side. This is because the mind struggles to control the intensity of feelings. This takes way too much mental energy and keeps the right control center busy. People have difficulty concentrating, learning and being productive. They tend to be moody, reactive, thin-skinned and self-preoccupied. They may be very smart and still not live or react in ways that make sense, tending to make foolish choices when feelings are present or feelings are being avoided. (Life Model)
I remember one lady who had a very interesting way of interpreting events. We would see the same things, but the way they were remembered were quite different. At the same time, I had difficulty recalling these memories, placing them into words. I imagine people suffering this kind of trauma would find it hard to run a business or talk with people.
Front and back – The front half of the brain is driven by desire and goals while the back half is dominated by fear [negative emotion]. The front half of the brain contains some of its more complex thinking and activity while the back of the brain is more involved in processing basic data and solving simple problems. During trauma the higher parts of the brain (levels 3, 4 and 4+) are shut down as we have seen. One of the enduring effects of unresolved trauma is a dominance of the fear driven back of the brain. Fear driven people are anxious, hyper-vigilant and avoidant. They do what it takes to get out of problems (real or imagined) and avoid whatever makes them unhappy or uncomfortable. Since they are not goal directed they are rarely far from the very feelings events they fear and often participate greatly in producing the very thing they fear.
A healthy person is able to plan, communicate with others, organize, express complex ideas, absorb counter ideas from others, and join with others in building complex empires.
An unhealthy person is afraid of risk taking, afraid of people, telephones and crowds. Opposing ideas violate the safe worldview becoming a threat. These people argue, debate everything, introduce the negative, tear down what we are trying to accomplish. Criticizing every attempt to achieve our potential.
Healthy people are fun to be with as they challenge us to grow and excel. Unhealthy people seem shallow in thinking, running in circles returning to the same troubles without listening. But with patience and understanding, unhealthy people can return to health becoming and reaching their full potential.
