How trauma impacts your brain...

My father's passing was devastating for my mother. I don't remember her grieving...it was as if she was in shock. She may not have had the coping mechanisms to deal with a loss that great. The same evening after he passed my sister and I took my mom to the emergency room because she thought she was having a heart attack. This was a manifestation of her anxiety and as time went on, it got worse and evolved into full blown panic attacks. 

This sole event was I think the main contributor to throwing her limbic system off balance. I didn't know what the limbic system was until my mom's naturopathic doctor who is treating her dementia, Dr. Heather Sandison, mentioned it to me. I researched limbic system impairment and it totally fit my mom's profile. It's the part of the brain that tells you when to be in fight or flight. The system is off balance and tells your brain to be in fight or flight too often. My mom was being triggered way too often. Sometimes she would be in a trauma loop all day long. 

How is this related to dementia and memory loss? Well...when you're in fight or flight your prefrontal cortex basically stops working. You lose reasoning, and you certainly can't pay attention or retain any of the information coming at you. When my mom gets out of these trauma loops, it's like she doesn't even remember what happened! 

Not only does this impact her ability to retain information, but, having cortisol shooting through your system almost all day long impacts your entire system. Cortisol, in high amounts, is toxic for your system. Not only is it toxic, but, it wreaks havoc on your endocrine system. Your hormones become out of balance. Everything is connected so you have somewhat of a snowball effect. 

My mom has been existing in this state for so long that she has almost become programmed. The final impact which, in my opinion, is the most important is that she doesn't breath properly. Nasal breathing is super important and my mom walks around with her mouth open. You are basically simulating hyper ventilation. This may be good for a short period of time but not good for extended periods of time. We're working to transform this but it takes time. 

Losing my dad was heartbreaking for all of us...but it impacted my mom dramatically. It was almost as if she lost her foundation. I cannot stress this enough how cognition and trauma are intertwined. Healing from our past traumas is essential to achieving optimal health and wellness. We are still on this journey!