Why can’t the brain simply forget about it since it’s from a long time ago and still end up having some form of mental health issues later on in life because of it?
In: 39
This in an article I read that I feel explains it well:
“In therapy, I learn that the trauma of the attack means that my brain’s usual mechanisms for storing memories have been corrupted. Dr N, the therapist, uses the analogy of cardboard boxes on a conveyor belt, being knocked off one by one, so that they never reach their storage facility. Instead, they have exploded and their innards are all over the shop (this part of the analogy is mine).
Dr N draws me pictures of the brain, showing me the amygdala and the hippocampus. The amygdala is responsible for my fear responses, and you could say that it’s hyperactive. This is why I startle so easily, because it is going into stress mode unnecessarily. The hippocampus is in charge of the storage and retrieval of memories, and helps you differentiate between past and present events. Put simply, mine is damaged, so the past and the present blend together, the attack elbowing its way into my everyday experience without warning or invitation. On a daily basis, I experience the same cascade of chemicals that I did on the night of the attack, when my primitive brain took over during the fight-or-flight terror of thinking I would die.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/20/feel-might-die-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
Latest Answers