Normal memories are built out of what we experience through our senses, including interoception, and how we process or make sense of that information. A normal memory (built in the hippocampus) includes a narrative (place, sequence) and may or may not have an emotional tone. We can recall these narrative memories voluntarily and in doing so, we might unconsciously change the memory (a little or a lot) to fit our current needs, sometimes as a function of social connection.
A traumatic memory (built in the amygdala) is, in essence, all emotion, no story -or at best a disjointed one. The processing part doesn’t happen, and your memory is an intense emotional experience of terror associated with specific images, sounds, smells, etc. Traumatic memories are stored to protect you, not socialize you, which means they don’t need to tell a story –just provide a warning. Associated sensory “triggers” can bring back the traumatic memory with the same physiological responses as in the original event to prompt you to take protective measure, irrespective of whether the triggers are actual threats.
Traumatic memories behave differently than normal memories, coding traumatic experiences in the body and through the senses without a coherent narrative. Trauma memories are recalled without conscious choice; in other words, sense- and emotion-based memories (rather than story-based memories) are triggered by an internal or external factor. Essentially, through implicit memory of trauma, we learn to fear a new threat – the indicators for which could be sounds (e.g., if gunfire was part of the original trauma, gunfire and similar sounds could trigger a traumatic memory), smells, sights, etc. Our brain and nervous system are now wired to react with fear to anything associated with the original trauma because of traumatic memory. And the life-saving lessons (fears) can be passed to our children through our genes, contributing to intergenerational trauma.
This video on epigenetics offers a quick primer on how that’s possible. (MinuteEarth, 2015)
Human brains take a long time to fully develop. We don’t come into the world “ready to go,” as it were. Normal brain development occurs in the presence of responsive, attuned caregiving, and with the input of experience to prepare survival in the world as defined by those experiences. Traumatic events trigger the stress responses that help you survive. When we’re in survival mode, our brains/bodies prioritize the resources needed to fight or flee or freeze –all with rapid reaction times. In this state, our brains/bodies don’t prioritize learning, digestion, repair, comfort, or reproduction. When brains develop in a traumatic environment, where survival reactions are needed and the sympathetic nervous system goes into high drive most of the time, stress responses can become the norm in all environments. Usually those look like high-emotion reactions rather than thoughtfully considered decisions, with no pause to confirm the actual danger level of a perceived threat.
Brains, and therefore people, develop and build neural connections based on input from environments and interactions. We learn how to get our needs met through our interactions first with our caregivers and then other adults and peers. When this happens as expected, we develop the ability to manage (reasonable) stress, act on our behalf, and move through the world with a sense of self and self-worth. Instead, negative experiences can shape a child’s brain and create a worldview in which:
When the expected care is disrupted with neglect or abuse or other adverse experiences, those patterns of agency that help us function effectively in relation to others don’t develop. A person’s attempts to regulate their internal experience (perhaps of fear, self-loathing, etc.) can show up in behaviors that function poorly in society: anger, violence, withdrawing, defiant behavior, rejection, bullying, inability to learn or focus, and more.
When trauma is ongoing or recurring, a child’s brain adapts to the experiences and environment as “normal,” creating neural connections and behavioral patterns that help them survive in their surroundings. When they then go into a different environment, one with norms that they haven’t learned and for which they don’t have the physical and mental skills (or current capacity), their behavior is mismatched to their surroundings. Just like “normal” behavior would be mismatched in the traumatic environment they came from. From the perspective of social and developmental norms, many of these adaptations look like “disorders” or “maladaptations”, bringing with them behaviors and internal realities that affect health, learning/productivity, and relationships. And yet, it’s these adaptations that promote survival.