Trauma and the limbic system

Trauma impairs our ability to connect with others by replacing patterns of connection with patterns of protection. If those early childhood learned survival patterns are not resolved, they turn into habitual patterns of the autonomic nervous system.

The limbic system, also called the emotional brain, is responsible for the unconscious processes. Among other things, the autonomic nervous system is controlled by this. At times when the urge to survive competes with the desire to connect with others, the autonomic nervous system responds to sensations in the body and stimuli from the environment through 3 systems. The way we approach, turn away, connect with others or isolate ourselves is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. This is unconscious.

When we experience violent events or feel threatened, we (unconsciously) send signals to others to help us. If there is no one to help you at those times, the limbic system becomes active. The signals of safety or danger sent from one part of the autonomic nervous system to another regulate or increase the state of alertness. This occurs at a level well below that of conscious perception. Before the brain assigns meaning to an event, the autonomic nervous system has already assessed the environment and initiated a survival response: fight, flight or freeze. Stress hormones are the engine of those reactions.

In traumatized people, the stress response has become chronic. As a result, the alarm system in the brain becomes incorrectly adjusted. The verbal part of the brain is then, as it were, pinched off. The limbic system expresses that in (physical) reactions such as abdominal pain, fear, fatigue, nightmares, nausea, panic attacks, chronic pain, etc. It is often unconscious and you have no control over it.

While the autonomic nervous system is shaped by our early life experiences, present experiences can also reshape it.

Brainspotting reaches the limbic system, the part of the brain where fear and insecurity has settled. It takes advantage of the neuroplasticity of the brain. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to repair and adapt to its environment. This means that the brain is able to create new brain cells and strengthen the connections between those cells.