Traumatic experiences can occur at any point in a person’s life and these types of events can have negative impacts both on a person’s physical and mental health. In fact traumatic experiences can actually change the way that an individual’s brain works. It is therefore important that healthcare workers and those who may come into contact with those who have experienced trauma, undertake Trauma informed training. This type of training helps to identify the ways in which trauma can impact a person and what support might need to be put in place to help prevent flashbacks, dissociation and re-traumatisation from occurring. Tidal Training Trauma informed Training is one example of this type of training.
There are some areas of the brain that are affected by extreme stress and these include the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. These areas can become affected by traumatic stress as the increase in cortisol and norepinephrine leads to changes in the shape and the functioning of the brain.
For example, in some individuals that have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder the hippocampus appears to be smaller in size, the amygdala has a higher functional level and prefrontal cortex is also decreased. People with PTSD also have higher levels of norepinephrine and cortisol when they are experiencing stressful events. It is these changes that can lead to individuals feeling like they are not managing life in the way that they would have done before the traumatic event occurred.
