This lecture by recovering addict and therapist Jessica Levith speaks to me: Lets say someone wouldnt call me. My body would tighten up. I would sweat and I would end up on the ground crying. I would make myself throw up. Anything to release the tension. At the same time, Im thinking in my brain, Im going to die. This person has to call me. Then I would think, Why are you so messed up? Why cant you fix this? Modern attachment theory...says that in your first year of life, your central nervous system is only partially developed and it is the job of your caretaker to help you develop that nervous system. The caretaker has to arouse the child and to calm the child and if that doesnt happen, your central nervous system gets out of whack and as you develop as a child, it looks like a child who becomes isolated because no one wants to play with them, and in adolescence, it becomes the child thinking, What is wrong with me?, and starting to find outside people to fix them. I look at the brain from the trauma theory perspective -- that our brain is three separate brains, one on top of the other. The bottom brain is our reptilian brain. This controls our unconscious functioning, our breathing, our heart rate... The lymbic system, or middle brain, is the epic center of emotionality and it consolidates our long-term emotional brain. Our top brain is our human brain. It is where we make our decisions and solve problems. Going back to me on the floor. I realized that I was in survival mode, I was in the brain stem.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 05:00:46 +0000