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Triggers

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Having a physical reaction to an emotional response can be very confusing to our entire being. We go into a fight-or-flight mode, yet there is no real danger. Navigating through triggers takes a lot of work, but the plus side is that every time we do not engage into fight-or-flight when we are having a physical response to an emotional stimuli, we begin to heal our nervous system. This takes work with someone who understands, who knows what methods to use, and who have also healed in large part from their own trauma. Here are a couple of articles about triggers: What Happens to the Body When Triggered What Happens to the Brain When Triggered
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The Amygdala

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In reading about bipolarity in the book Owning Bipolar, I was able to see the biological connection between this disorder and trauma. In the brain, there are two main functioning parts that play out in bipolarity. The first is the prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is a more newly developed part of the brain that acts as a moral guide. It has come into play as we have evolved, living closely in relation to others in the development of societies where we need a firm understanding of what is right and wrong (for our own safety). The second part of the brain that plays a role is the amygdala, and this is in charge of producing emotions and processing emotional memories. The amygdala alerts the PFC when there is a threat, real or imagined, and the PFC makes an executive decision on how to address that threat. It is asserted that in bipolar disorder, the two parts of the brain have a disconnect (intermittently), leading in bipolar behaviours that come our in bouts of mania or depression. W...
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Gaslighting

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Gaslighting is a very real phenomenon. It is emotional and psychological degradation in order to control a person. I have had personal experience being "gaslit", but it wasn't until my situation was pointed out to me by a friend that I learnt about this form of abuse. This is a new term in modern psychology. From my personal experience, as well as having heard another person's experience, people who gaslight others are insecure and emotionally unwell, and are for the most part, harmless. I am not really sure the person who is doing the gaslighting is even aware they are doing it a lot of the time. Generally, I do not believe that the people doing the gaslighting mean to hurt the person, but rather that it's a result of poor self-esteem and inability to process feelings of inadequacy. This article  clearly defines what gaslighting is. You can click on the link to read more, but for a quick review, below are the characteristics: Targets of gaslighting are man...
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