Your Brain Has Wounds And They Are Called Trauma.

Trauma simply means that the brain's natural course of development was disturbed. The reason may be anything from emotional neglect (parents didn't acknowledge your emotions or attempted to discount them) to severe childhood abuse.

The brain never forgets what happened to it even in childhood

The memories might become fuzzy and you might think they’re irrelevant, but the brain, it doesn’t forget.

If you find yourself having sudden and violent reactions to your children’s behaviors, if you lash out with words or hands before you know what’s happened, chances are, your brain is acting out of trauma.

Children who grow up in a home where the parent (one or both), does any of the following:

- Expresses rage at the child’s behavior

- Routinely berates and shames the child

- Punishes the child with harsh consequences

... the child’s brain becomes very much like that of a soldier stuck in a war zone.

It doesn’t matter that the parent also shows love and care. Most parents who’s kids suffer from childhood trauma were not “bad parents”. They meant well. They wanted to do well. But they were stuck in the cycle of rage and abuse.

Being raised in such an environment puts your brain in a permanent fight or flight mode.

Anything your child does triggers your body’s defense mechanism and you attack. Later, you feel terrible and horrified. You don’t understand why you react this way. You feel helpless and hopeless.

Studies also show that you can suffer from anxiety and depression as an adult as a result of what happened in your childhood. That’s because when you’re already sensitive to stress and your brain suffers more stress, it simply can’t handle it and you start having anxiety or panic attacks.

But there’s hope, I promise.

Step one is recognizing that your brain is wounded and needs healing.

Step two is getting that help. Seeing a doctor to possibly start medication (at least short term), seek counseling and find other ways as well to help your brain become healthy again. (Praying/meditation in conjunction with therapy and medication can help).

Picture from https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-3-parts-of-your-brain-affected-by-trauma/