shrinking the amygdala

[IamFree]

I learned sometime ago that if you was a child who was brought up in trauma as an adult you may have an enlarged amygdala hence the constant hypervigilance. I have became aware recently that I am developing an aversion to any books/ tv / movies of a dark and heavy matter. been replacing it with light fluffy cute things. Do feel a lot calmer....it got me thinking do you recon that the primitive brain does not recognise that the horror movie with all the people being murdered in very creative ways is not really happening and is responding accordingly..setting you off letting out the stress chemicals e.t.c

 

[Wendell_R]

When my younger parts are out, I avoid dark/sexual stimuli. When the adult is more present, these things do not trigger me so much. I don't know if that's because the Little Guys are more sensitive to triggers, or have a harder time separating fact from fiction, or whether they feel that they have less control.

 

[shimmerz]

I think those types of movies are meant to get right to the emotional centres. That's why many people are attracted to them. They like the thrill. Once my PTSD hit about 10 years ago, I had an instant intolerance for them. I still can't go near them without losing my mind.

So I do believe that due to our sensitivity being ramped up things we could once tolerate we no longer can. It makes me wonder what we are doing to our children by exposing them to these things.

 

[MyWillow]

I’ve hated those types of movies all my life. Even “silly” horror movies that everyone would watch on a kids sleep over terrified the living shit out of me. Now I struggle to watch the news.

 

[IamFree]

I think those types of movies are meant to get right to the emotional centres. That's why many people are attracted to them. They like the thrill. Once my PTSD hit about 10 years ago, I had an instant intolerance for them. I still can't go near them without losing my mind.

So I do believe that due to our sensitivity being ramped up things we could once tolerate we no longer can. It makes me wonder what we are doing to our children by exposing them to these things.

I guessed as much.. these things would affect a non traumatised person in a different way and may have the space in there brains for such things. I am assuming that anyone who is from trauma has had parts of there lifes being a real life horror story so I imagine the real horror on top of filling your head up with other peoples horror (newspapers/ the news.) and the horror that is created in all these movies and stories is just to much...I think the catch 22 is that when your in hypervigilance in my case I am even seeking all this out like I need to go and keep on proving to my self that everything is really dark and horrible and awful.

yes I lived in a house with no rules and boundaries so I had access to horror movies when I was very young...I saw the silence of the lambs when I was 10 years old . Think was the last thing I needed to see in the situation I was in.

I’ve hated those types of movies all my life. Even “silly” horror movies that everyone would watch on a kids sleep over terrified the living shit out of me. Now I struggle to watch the news.

I watched them when I was young because everyone else did it was the cool thing and then in later life just out of cultural conditioning. Its only recently I have developed a concept of having a choice over what I expose my self to and what I expose myself to influences who I am . to be honest you can just go out in to the street and see horrible things why fill your head up with even more of it. and then there is the horrible things in life that we cant avoid or run away from so I would rather save my energy for the horrible things I have to see and deal with . at the same time I am pro choice people can if they want.

 

[IamFree]

just read some articles confirming that indeed the primitive brain does react like it really is witnessing what is happening and is setting of all the instinctive responses that goes with it...once again its a case of in the non traumatised person may not be a big deal but for the battered and bruised traumatised system could be like pouring water on a circuit board.......think I will be steering clear of the 18 certificates for a while....someone pass me the lion king.....oh but those hyenas....will my nerves bear them....lol

 

[hithere]

i really appreciate the topic. I can't watch movies with "jeopardy" of any knd in them, like spy movies or movies where someone is going to get "caught" and then severely punished. It goes along with many of the shocking hard things that happened as a child. also could never watch movies where there was hand to hand combat like Last of the Mohicans or even in All the Pretty Horses where one group of men beat the living shit out of another group of men with their hands and clubs. (cuz like that shit happened in my childhood and teen years) I freak out and feel like it's happening in real life. I watched the first Terminator about 6 times in the theatre. I know it's excessive but the violence was with machine guns and not fists or clubs or knives. That movie made me feel kind of powerful to watch it over and over. For some reason I identified with the robot LOL. I'm guessing since the violence I lived through involved hand to hand combat and murder attempts with weapons my brain probably freaks out at anything that resembles that. It's interesting you report the part of the brain that the primitive brain thinks it is happening.

 

[IamFree]

i really appreciate the topic. I can't watch movies with "jeopardy" of any knd in them, like spy movies or movies where someone is going to get "caught" and then severely punished. It goes along with many of the shocking hard things that happened as a child. also could never watch movies where there was hand to hand combat like Last of the Mohicans or even in All the Pretty Horses where one group of men beat the living shit out of another group of men with their hands and clubs. (cuz like that shit happened in my childhood and teen years) I freak out and feel like it's happening in real life. I watched the first Terminator about 6 times in the theatre. I know it's excessive but the violence was with machine guns and not fists or clubs or knives. That movie made me feel kind of powerful to watch it over and over. For some reason I identified with the robot LOL. I'm guessing since the violence I lived through involved hand to hand combat and murder attempts with weapons my brain probably freaks out at anything that resembles that. It's interesting you report the part of the brain that the primitive brain thinks it is happening.

yeah I am assuming the primitive brain is not designed to be able to figure out whats real and what is not, its just about instinct and just doing what it has to do now.

 

[hithere]

yeah I am assuming the primitive brain is not designed to be able to figure out whats real and what is not, its just about instinct and just doing what it has to do now.

this makes me wonder if it can't be changed because I have always had working "herding" dogs like border collies and corgis that have an intense instinct to drive and chase. It takes so much work to work with the instinct so that they won't "react" to bicycles and cars or run around the family members like banshees trying to get everyone in the same place. the training is always exposing them to running children, halting the behavior and then rewarding the halt, watching the running child while they sit stay--or (live stock etc) the other is to work against the "defense" instinct with eye staring and quick reward for eye stares. maybe I should watch those movies till the end and reward myself for doing it so I can learn it's not happening. just a thought. (Maybe since I trained all my dogs as puppies it works, and if they were adult dogs that were never worked with it wold be hopeless and they would be chasers that can't be trained?) I don't know I'm thinking out loud.

 

[shimmerz]

It's interesting you report the part of the brain that the primitive brain thinks it is happening.

The primitive brain can't discern. It has no capacity for 'time' as we know it.

Which has made utilizing it as a visualization tool with flashbacks to be the cat's ass. Change the ending of the story to one of empowerment and the brain thinks it actually has happened. It takes away the emotional charge of the event being a loss.

Every grey cloud has a silver lining?

 

[Deleted member 47099]

Maybe since I trained all my dogs as puppies it works, and if they were adult dogs that were never worked with it wold be hopeless and they would be chasers that can't be trained?

As someone who has tried to "train" 2 traumatised rescue dogs, may I just say yeahhhhhhhhhhh they are wayyyyyyyyy easier to train as puppies :)
Like about a billion times :D

Cool thread :)
I stay away from frightening or gory movies too.
Tho my PTSD brain does like simple cop shows that are predictable and where the bad guys always get caught :rolleyes:

 

[hithere]

The primitive brain can't discern. It has no capacity for 'time' as we know it.

Which has made utilizing it as a visualization tool with flashbacks to be the cat's ass. Change the ending of the story to one of empowerment and the brain thinks it actually has happened. It takes away the emotional charge of the event being a loss.

Every grey cloud has a silver lining?

this is interesting.. what do you mean "change the ending of the story to one of empowerment and the bran thinks it actually happened" ? How do you do that? with hypnosis?