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Failp0 t1_jahmlsq wrote

Reply to comment by malevolentslime in Adults who were sexually abused in childhood have lower gray matter volume in specific brain region, study finds by DreamingForYouAlways

That's called dissociation. When your body/brain experiences such severe trauma you can't get away from, it's a survival skill. Your brain forceably takes control and keeps you "away" to protect you. Now the mechanics I'm not sure of, what part of the brain etc. Everyone Dissociates, maybe you've heard of highway hypnosis. That's a type of dissociation. The problem is if it keeps happening, the type of trauma that usually does, it basically creates a form of brain damage and your unable to regulate the dissociation. Which is how dissociative disorders are formed.

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tringle1 t1_jaho02y wrote

That might explain why I would dissociate so hard during school going through the wrong puberty and being bullied constantly and also having abusive parents. When my therapist pointed out that I never had a single space that I felt totally safe in as a child, I started crying and I didn’t even fully understand what they were saying yet. Yeah I have ADHD, I was always a little spacey, but not for 20 minutes at a time

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suleimaaz t1_jahu4yd wrote

Does it eventually go away if someone is safe for long enough? Can the brain reset the connections it made in that time?

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hellfae t1_jais7a1 wrote

>>>EMDR is AMAZING for this. I had one traumatic experience as a kid, was SA'd by my moms boyfriend at 5. And I do emdr weekly with my therapist on the phone, while I watch the ball go back and forth on my laptop and do bilateral tapping on my head/body. It brings traumatic experiences from a 10 to a 0 in terms of distress, turns down how effected we are by triggers in daily life, helps with dissociation/getting back into our body, helps remove trapped emotions in the body, and offers divine perspective we couldnt see ourselves while untangling knots in the brain and actually scientifically rewiring our neurotransmitter pathways for new habits and thoughts. It aint easy, you have to physically, psychologically, and emotionally be in a safe enough place to literally step into and walk through the past, but if you can and have a good therapist you trust it is lifechanging. Also hot baths are great afterwards. A jog, you take a day for self care to rewire and then back to normal life until next session. Its one of the most advanced forms of therapy available, and one of the only for complex-ptsd. Helps my ocd a lot too. Sorry to interject just wanted to put that as an answer to the above question, because it is a specific answer.

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Failp0 t1_jahwdud wrote

Everyone and every situation is different, so I couldn't give you an accurate answer to that. I do know that it is an extremely wide umbrella. Dissociation is actually something Everyone experiences at some point. If it doesn't happen alot, there's a better chance of being unaffected. Like highway hypnosis. It might freak you out after it happens but you generally shake it off and be more aware. Whereas a person who experiences repeated trauma or maybe even a more..life threatening type of trauma will have a greater likelihood of being affected and needing treatment. And depending on the person and how, if, they get treatment what treatments they do, what their support circles look like, what, if any, resources do they have access to. So really, that's where the variables really come into play but on spectrum, Dissociation can be resolved. On the other spectrum, depending on circumstance worst case it cant and its more about management than trying to cure. I assume there's way better info though than I can give you here. This is bare bones.

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malevolentslime t1_jahygax wrote

The original commenter doesn't know, you shouldn't rely on them. I made a response comment on why they are incorrectly applying this information

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EnjoyLifeorDieTryin t1_jahqx1w wrote

No its called tonic immobility its the bodys response to extreme danger, when flight and fight aren’t possible your body goes into freeze mode

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malevolentslime t1_jahz3qk wrote

It's honestly neither, this is a newly described and specific phenomenon to child sexual assault per the original article. Not the case in other forms of danger.

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EnjoyLifeorDieTryin t1_jahzh1h wrote

Yeah i was just adding info on the other mentioned phenomenon in which i have a little knowledge, this seems to he a different more permanent change in the brain

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Failp0 t1_jahriga wrote

Freeze mode is part of the fight or flight mode. It's not usually tacked on, though I should have. Dissociation is the out of body experience you feel triggered from the trauma and subsequent fight, flight or freeze mode. Tonic immobility would be a symptom of freeze mode specifically. I encourage you to google dissociation. It's fascinating what the brain can do in severe traumatic situations to help us survive.

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EnjoyLifeorDieTryin t1_jahskn9 wrote

Ive had to do a lot of research unfortunately but i do think this phenomenon helped my partner be able to move on quicker because she only remembers what happened up until the freeze.

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uberneoconcert t1_jaj69y7 wrote

Also happens for babies suffering from the "cry it out" method. No, they don't just give up and go to sleep, they dissociate rather than continue to face the reality nobody is there to keep them safe, and then fall asleep without realizing it. The same way kids do when their parents are arguing.

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malevolentslime t1_jahy9zd wrote

Link the study stating that dissociative episodes are linked with that area of the brain. Or link a study that a drug that induces dissociation(eg ketamine) is active in that specific area of the brain. Until you do, no, it's not dissociation, which could be a complex series of events. Dissociation happens during all types of abuse whereas this specific brain abnormality only happens with child sexual abuse, not other types of abuse. It's not just dissociation and you should stop spreading misinformation

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Failp0 t1_jahyyk0 wrote

I never did say it was linked with that area of the brain. I specifically said I DIDNT know which area of the brain dissociation was from. I simply replying to the original commenter what the out of body feeling experience was. And I never said anything about drugs. For Pete's sake, calm down.

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malevolentslime t1_jahzjva wrote

I am the og commentor about out of body experiences - and no, it's NOT just dissociation as I have repeatedly told you. Link a study supporting that claim. That's why I brought up ketamine, which induces dissociation (and is used medically for this), to help you find a source. I doubt you will. Any source.

No, you're over here telling people with mental illness a bunch of lies, I'm not cool with it. You're wrong and your interpretation is wrong.

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Failp0 t1_jai0hbw wrote

Nothing I told you about dissociation is wrong. I stated everything I stated, and yet you didn't read my comment through and got a hair up your ass. As someone with the mental illness myself and having a therapy team of doctors for years now, I simply told you the information on dissociation. All credible verifiable facts. I STATED the other portions that I didn't know (for this exact hateful ass unnecessary reason), you could have just said "oh for dissociation it's this part of the brain, for this part of the brain it's for this."

Stop acting like I have said nothing verifiable by a simple google search when really you can't just hold a reasonable conversation and have to go all ridiculous.

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