The flooding of BC is awful, people’s homes and belongings damaged or swept away. I feel for the residents and travelers and everyone affected by these floods. As if COVID isn’t enough!

At times like these, for those of us who have PTSD or complex PTSD, unease, or feelings of threat trigger a place in our brain where trauma is stored – we call these areas ‘nodes’. These nodes are activated in times of severe stress, and a person is then triggered back to the initial trauma that caused that node to form.

Because a ‘node’ stores trauma as if it is happening in the present, your body responds strongly. It can feel as if event or events are happening now, and the feelings can be as strong or nearly as strong as they were when they happened. Or, you could overreact to a stressor, like the flooding, when it is not directly impacting you.

The Body Keeps the Score, is a book by Bessel van der Kolk. He tells how our bodies are damaged by these stored memories. These events can also be from repetitive trauma, or feelings of neglect, in childhood.

It is so very important not to push these feelings away. Ignored, they can cause body diseases, like hypertension, diabetes, and other serious disease.

I have created a ‘safety program’ that you could try. Scroll past the top and you will see it introduced in purple. Safety First

There are many links to the brain center that reacts to stress, The Limbic System, and to Complex PTSD, and to PTSD.

Good luck. Stay safe.

Judy