The Trauma Bond
Many of us are familiar with the term ‘trauma bond,’ but what does it actually mean? How can we explain the feeling that many people have of being very unhappy…
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Adverse Childhood ExperiencesA study was published in 1998 as a collaboration between the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente (a health care service provider) and was…
The Mental Structure of a Person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder
This is a simplified diagram of the mental structure of the mind of a narcissist. It is a complex system of defences which protect the conscious mind from the buried…
Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Empathy
What is Empathy?Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It helps us to establish relationships with others and to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings. It can…
Paranoia
Many children from abusive homes have lifelong issues with trust and very strong paranoid tendencies. This paranoia has served an important purpose during the person's life as it was best…
Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Brain Structure
Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Brain StructureAdvances in brain scanning technology have allowed us to see inside the brains of people with NPD and enhance our understanding of the disorder.Recent research…
Prisoners and Dissociation
The following is taken from The Journal of Traumatic Stress Volume 5, No. 3, 1992.https://www.myptsd.com/gallery/-pdf/1-90.pdfby Judith Lewis HermanHerman is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of Training at the…
Addictions
What is an Addiction?An addiction is a repetitive or compulsive behaviour that people use to regulate and manage their emotions. These can be emotions we are aware of or they…
Symptoms of Trauma
Trauma survivors have symptoms of the trauma in their behaviours and thoughts, these are not their personality or character but are echoes of trauma. Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is…
3D rendered medical illustration of male anatomy - amygdala. plain black background. lateral view
The Brain and Trauma
Swollen AmygdalaA child living under traumatic conditions will develop a brain that is very biased to danger. This will last into adulthood. This is done through the amygdala which is…
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to adapt physically to new information and grow new neural pathways. It is how we learn. The brain can form new neurons (any…
Two coffee cups
Black and White Thinking
Black and white, all or nothing or dichotomous thinking is a pattern of thinking that develops in early childhood.It develops in children who have come from difficult backgrounds where there…
