Limbic System

Stress of any kind, physical or emotional or other, affects your limbic system. It also causes your nervous system to become active which causes diseases and mental exhaustion. Here is a video on the Sympathetic system. 

We all have stress. And we’ve all had trauma, even if it’s only the trauma of birth and then the trauma when we die. Trauma can come from high sugar diet, alcohol, smoking, other substances and, of course, stress.

Before even looking at this complicated subject, you may want to do an exercise to improve your concentration/relaxation/fatigue. Ways to Calm the Limbic System.

If your limbic system is hyperactive, you could have flight response or a freeze response. This can cause palpitations, restless legs, cold peripheries, any inflammation. This often feels worse when you are not busy, and especially at night, when the limbic system is most hyperactive. Often we are unaware.

If you have a natural Freeze response – people more inclined to withdraw from others, keep their emotions to themselves – this freezes the limbic system and can often cause weight gain, poor motivation and a feeling that you have little control over your life.

A freeze response can affect your ability to motivate yourself – to move to action. Think of a swimmer in a pool of water, swimming from the bottom of the pool to the top to come up for air. If you have a freeze response, it is hard to motivate yourself to change, to move. It can be as if the water is frozen and you have to push through a block of ice to the top. Freeze responses are harder to work through.

If you have a natural Flight response – you are more likely a person to keep yourself excessively busy, doing things to occupy your attention, anything not to think about the past your or your own feelings. These people often use words like – too busy, so hectic. Always thinking of others and doing things for other. 

If you have had trauma like rape or a very difficult childhood, you do need to speak to your health care provider before working on this page. Even listening to someone talking about trauma can cause immense stress if you happen to have PTSD. No matter how strong a person you are, if you have had severe trauma, it can be stuck in your limbic system. 

Below is a video on anxiety which goes with trauma.

If you are suffering in pain or have stress, it is hard to focus. Watch the video for a short while the pause. You can visit it again later. When you have severe stress or pain, it is very hard to concentrate on anything – hard enough to put one step in front of the other and breathe. Take your time going through the page. There are different explanations of Limbic system. Good luck.

Limbic system can light up with any kind of stress – illness, pain, even overexcitement can cause problems. Trauma and inherited trauma – like children of parents who have been in residential schools can inherit trauma – this all can affect the limbic system. 

Trauma and stress changes the brain. Here is a link explaining epigenetics and how it causes fibromyalgia and inflammation. These changes are also true for diabetes, PCOS, many diseases. 

I would suggest, if you feel safe to do this, to complete the Childhood Experiences Form and Adult Trauma Score form. This will help you see how much trauma you have had in your life.  Many people have had trauma. My childhood experiences score is 16 out of 28. Thank goodness I was able to get help. 

Symptoms of trauma/childhood or adult bad experiences can lie dormant until you reach your seventies, even eighties. I have a patient who was never ill, and now has been triggered and has become physically extremely ill from the trauma. There is no disease yet that we can detect. So if we process this trauma, hopefully we can prevent illness. 

Hearing Impaired? Or not keen on my jarring voice? The written transcript is below the videos at the end of the page.

Almost all trauma goes with shame. Shame that we’re not good enough. Not a good enough mother or a good enough father or a manly man. Most people with trauma blame themselves – why didn’t i do something. Why didn’t I tell someone. Shame is part of a trauma response. 

Many of us, about 20% are wired differently to the rest of the world. I am neurodiverse because of complex PTSD, I have anxiety, depression, ADHD, and am socially anxious to the extreme causing difficulty interacting with people who aren’t my patients. In my role as doctor, I have learned how to cope better. 

People who have spectrum disorders, like autism or Asperger’s syndrome also have neurodivergency

These exercises can help. Ways to Calm down.

There is treatment for Limbic System Trauma, including medicaitons, exercises, and other treatment. 

Limbic System trauma is apparent in the disease that you have. 70% of chronic disease are caused by stress or trauma. Chronic pain. Hypertension. Diabetes. Inflammatory disease like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s, irritable bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis. Cancer. Asthma. Liver disease. The list goes on . . . 

You are more likely to get serious chronic conditions if you have a freeze response. I  believe the freeze response means you automatically kick in a survival response that blocks – blocks your reactions, your feelings, your connection to your stress. This feeds disease. 

When overwhelmed, it’s hard to do anything. Start with Step 2. And try and try and try to make sure that your chest and shoulders are relaxed while you’re breathing and that your belly is moving outward with in breath and towards your spine when you breath out. Practice! It will calm your Limbic System and try the Daily Program. Also Stress Anxiety PTSD.  You may be interested in Complex PTSD

Trauma can be processed by doing EMDR therapy. 

Trauma lights up your Limbic system, that primitive inside part of your brain. Trauma is a form of shock. Physical shock, like a motor vehicle accident, or a severe illness, or emotional shock, like a bad childhood, a rape, or the death of a child. 

When it’s a physical injury, usually your body recovers. 70% of people will recover from physical injury or illness without lasting problems. If you are not getting better, it’s not because you haven’t found a way to cope. It’s not that simple. It’s not just about THINKING POSITIVELY AND THEN GETTING BETTER. NOT JUST ABOUT YOU NOT GETTING BETTER BECAUSE YOU HAVE GIVING UP OR IN.

Emotional shock can be so bad that you can “lock it in your limbic box” ignore the trauma, get on with your life, meantime the trauma is causing problems in your body because of a sick Limbic System.

Why do 30% people end up with chronic pain or chronic problems? Why have you not improved after a physical injury when your muscles bones and ligaments have repaired themselves? IT’S NOT PSYCHOLOGICAL. NOT ALL IN YOUR HEAD.  Limbic system is a part of your body stuck in your brain – it is a physical part of your body because it runs your body. It’s not the place where you think. Does that make sense? 

Physical illness lights up the Limbic system, even physical stress from Pre-menopause. The effects of physical and emotional trauma can be stuck in your trauma centre, the primitive part of your brain, the Limic system, for decades, even your whole life. If you’ve been physically injured, or emotionally traumatized.

Limbic system trauma is not all in the head. The limbic system is more like a part of your body – rather than your brain. When it’s unhealthy, you can’t just “think it” healthy. The thinking part of your brain is a completely different part of your brain.

When you’ve been wronged, or suffered inescapable shock, like being trapped in a car after a MVA, or raped, or repeatedly hurt by someone,  you can intellectually work through it, think you have control of the trauma memories. You can even spiritually accept the trauma, forgive people who have done you wrong. But all this work takes place in the thinking part of your brain. The frontal cortex. The Limbic system, is different. It works on a subconscious level. Without your awareness. Autopilot operating without your awareness.

Trauma affects the flight, freeze, fight FFF response – part of the limbic system – your alarm center. It is very difficult to control this centre. It can be switched on by bad memories that you are not aware you are even thinking about. You can triggered without you even realizing it. The triggers can shoot past your thinking brain and light up your Limbic system without you realizing why or what is happening.

What can you do? We can help each other. Learn from each other. Social media is a great way to participate in helping people heal. Feel free to ask questions on the contact form. I will answer them in my blog.

The limbic system affects your blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels, all the things that get activated when your body is in shock. When the limbic system is sick from PTSD or stress, it causes s inflammation which leads to disease. Many years later this can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and even dementia.  It also causes vomiting, weight gain or weight loss because these centres are affected by the Limbic System.