Prof. Dr. Gül Eryılmaz made assessments regarding traumatic memory.
Noting that a traumatic event can have many psychological, social, and physical effects on a person, Eryılmaz stated that the most important of these is its effect on memory.
'IT REMAINS IN IMPLICIT MEMORY'
Noting that experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event will remain in the emotional memory without being processed, Prof. Dr. Gül Eryılmaz said, “In other words, the hippocampus (the brain's memory center), which is the memory of our current information, puts a time stamp on events while processing them. It says, ‘This was 10 years ago.’ This information is important for the brain's emotion production and behavior management.
Events with a high emotional load, i.e., post-trauma information, cannot be processed in the hippocampus and remain in implicit memory. That is, when any situation or object reminds one of the past, the brain relives this event as if it happened today. It almost doesn't remember; it relives it.”
'NEGATIVE THOUGHTS HAVE INCREASED'
Explaining what kind of symptoms traumatic memory causes in people, Prof. Dr. Gül Eryılmaz from Üsküdar University NPİstanbul Hospital said, “Symptoms such as being overreactive during daily life, intolerance, sensitivity to sound, jumping when a bell rings, an increase in negative thoughts about oneself or the world, unexplained anxiety attacks, physical complaints, pain disorders with no found cause, inability to leave negative relationships, constant self-sabotage, and attention or memory problems are observed.”
EMPHASIS ON 'ALIENATION FROM THE WORLD'
Also noting that this situation negatively affects a person's daily life, Prof. Dr. Gül Eryılmaz said, “There will be a deterioration in the person's functionality in daily life. There may be alienation from oneself or the world, such as deterioration in interpersonal relationships, depressive complaints, or constantly making the same mistakes.”
Stating that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric illness that develops after trauma, Prof. Dr. Eryılmaz said, “There is also traumatic memory in PTSD.”
'AT THE POINT WHERE THEY SAY I NEVER USE MY BRAIN...'
Explaining that traumatic memory is treated with specific trauma therapy, EMDR (a type of psychotherapy), and medication if necessary, Prof. Dr. Gül Eryılmaz also gave the following example regarding traumatic memory:
“Defining oneself as an emotional person after traumatic events experienced in childhood... At the point where a person says, ‘I give emotional reactions, my emotions are always at the forefront, therefore I never use my brain,’ emotionality can actually be a symptom of traumatic memory.”
News Source: 12punto
