Memory & PTSD Getting Unstuck

act resilient

The Past Haunting the Present
One disturbing aspect of trauma is the unwanted return of memories, thoughts, sounds and images.   It was hard enough to experience traumatic events the first time – but now you’re re-experiencing those bad things all the time. The past is now haunting the present. Intruding memories flood the mind. They are triggered night and day, and can interfere with the quality of sleep. It can make you feel crazy, as if your brain is out of control.
How Do You Store Your Memories?
The difference between a “bad” experience and one that is traumatic may be the difference in how the memory is stored. For example, two people may experience the exact same situation, and one is able to overcome the effects of it, while the other experiences enduring stress and distress.   This has nothing to do with weakness, lack of bravery, intelligence levels – it is simply due to the differences in their resilience level. The person who is not traumatized has a full Resilience tank going into the stressful situation. The person at risk will be someone with a Low Resilience Tank level.
How memories are stored is one key factor in resilience levels being high or low. A non-traumatized brain will have greater “plasticity” or flexibility. In other words, flexible brains can release unwanted memories more easily. When a person has experienced a high degree of stress, such as emotional, physical or mental pain or trauma, the brain can become stuck or less flexible, and the memories get caught in a groove. (Read blog entry “The Power of Spontaneity” for further discussion.) In the Act Resilient Program, we learn how to “unstick” the brain by increasing brain flexibility.
Why Does the Brain Get Stuck?
If a situation isn’t resolved – for example, because you feel guilty about what you did or didn’t do, it can continue to replay in your mind. Feeling unresolved feeling such as “I should have done more” or “I should have done something different” – can cause the brain to keep replaying aspects of the incident. The brain gets stuck on unfinished business – like a walking, talking “Evil Post-it Note” stuck to your forehead. It keeps nagging you to either fix the situation, or handle it differently if you can.
If you can’t do anything to fix it, because it is over and gone, it is essential to learn how to let it go.   You can’t let go of the memory -- in the sense that you can’t “un-remember,” but you can let go of REPLAYING the memory. Not constantly replaying a negative memory is essential to mental health – especially if you can’t fix the actual situation. Letting go is like taking your hand off the “replay” button in your brain. This allows the brain to “unstick.” The games we play in Act Resilient are all designed to teach the brain HOW to let go.
Close the Loop – Release the Pain
Take the simple factual sentence: “Mary is gone.” Whether or not that is a traumatic statement has to do with how it is perceived and processed, and long-term, how it is stored in the mind. If you know where Mary is, let’s say you know she has gone to the store to get milk and will be back in twenty minutes, the words “Mary is gone” do not cause any stress. It doesn’t become a traumatic memory because it is a closed-storage-loop of information. The brain doesn’t have to do anything more about it, so it goes into a “safe-storage” zone and causes no distress.
But if you don’t know where Mary is, or whether she will be back, or if she is alive, then the same simple words “Mary is gone” reverberating through your brain will cause pain and stress. In this case, having a closed-loop of accurate information (Mary is getting milk and will be back) allows you to not replay the words “Mary is gone” over and over. But if you have an open loop, through lack of information, guilt or self-recrimation about what you did or didn’t do, or unresolved feelings – you could create a situation where your brain gets stuck. Then you start continually replaying thoughts and memories in an effort to close the loop, but those memories only cause you pain.
You Can Learn to Let Go
If you have experienced intense suffering or trauma you may feel that you can’t let go. It is as if you have an open loop that is looking for closure. This is simply because no one showed you how to run your brain. If you don’t know where the computer on/off switch is, you won’t know how to turn it off – but once somebody shows you, it is a click away. Releasing unwanted memories is not as easy as a click, but it can be done. With practice and diligence you can learn how to close those open loops in your brain. Just understanding and believing it is possible is half the battle.
Explore the “Emotional Freedom Technique” in the Resource section of this site. This is a powerful and effective method that you do for yourself that can really help you get on with your life.
Act Resilient Works
The Act Resilient program uses Improvisational Comedy and Emotional Flexibility Training skills to restore brain plasticity. It does not require students to reveal any information that they don’t wish to share publicly. It is not therapy, but it is therapeutic in that it helps restore the natural resilience and enthusiasm for life. Act Resilient helps students come back to the present tense, which is the only way pleasure can be experienced once again. Act Resilient is a lot of fun and helps revive the willingness to live fully!
Genie Joseph, M.A.
Please read my other Blog Entries

Summary Points:

The Past Haunting the Present

How Do You Store Memories?

Why Does the Brain Get Stuck?

Close the Loop - Release the Pain

You Can Learn to Let Go!

Why Act Resilient Works

Memory & PTSD

Getting Unstuck

Saturday, August 28, 2010

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