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INTRODUCTION
Virtually every behavioral
pattern exhibited during routine activities
of daily living results from learned data which
is stored, or encoded, as cellular memory. Most
of those behavioral patterns are benign, in
that they do not contribute significantly to
cellular destruction (i.e., disease). Some of
those patterns, however, are expressed as significant
reflections of traumatically encoded cellular
information. In a condition such as Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder, it must be kept in mind that
the "problem" is an expression of
traumatically encoded information at the cellular
level. In order for therapy to have lasting
effect, it is imperative that a primary focus
of intervention involves isolation and decoding
of the causative traumatic cellular memory pattern.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In 1904 the Russian physiologist
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for
his research on the digestive process. For the
next 30 years, Pavlov devoted intense study
to brain function. He would later become most
well known for what he described as the "conditioned
reflex." Pavlov's research led him to conclude
that all acquired habits, and even higher mental
activity, depend on chains of conditioned reflexes.
The conditioned reflex works by association.
Rather than a simple stimulus-response mechanism,
the conditioned reflex is associated with memory.
For example, during the shock and stress of
an event that is perceived as a physical or
emotional threat, a special complex of hormonal
messenger molecules are released by the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
system. These substances encode all the external
and internal sensory impressions of the perceived
threat as cellular memory. This initial stimulus,
or memory, can later act as a catalyst for the
same reflex response that was initiated by the
perceived threat. The reflex or response can
then become conditioned to produce the same
basic reaction each time the memory of the initial
threat is activated, regardless of the stimulus.
This process is known as stimulus generalization,
and it becomes a key element in understanding,
and treating, victims of trauma.
CASE EXAMPLE
For a typical case history
that can help us understand the process of conditioned
reflexes, and the importance of decoding those
reflex patterns at the cellular level, consider
the following example. A 42 year old female
presents with complaints of frequent nightmares
about being raped. She has recently moved into
a neighborhood where a serial rapist has been
active. Prior to moving to this area, she had
experienced occasional nightmares of a sexual
nature, but none so graphic as to lead her to
therapy. Her background reveals two failed marriages
and several unsuccessful relationships. The
reason given by the client for the poor relationships
and failed marriages is sexual incompatibility,
which she explains as being the result of her
fear of being harmed during the act of sexual
intercourse. Physically the client complains
of frequent urinary tract infections, low back
pain, and headaches. All of her physical symptoms
manifest in conjunction to interpersonal relationships,
and more recently, to the increasing nightmares.
The client's family history
is significant in that she remembers her step-father
as being very abusive. When probed regarding
her relationship with her step-father, the client
reveals that for years she has had an increasing
fear that she may have been sexually abused
by him. She states that this fear began shortly
after her first marriage, which was of short
duration due to her first husband's abusive
nature. Her second marriage, and intervening
relationships are also described as being abusive
in nature, and accompanied by increasing fear
that her problems may stem from her thoughts
about being sexually abused by her step-father.
MECHANISM OF ACTION
In the scenario described above,
the initial stimulus can be understood to be
the client's fear regarding possible sexual
abuse by her step-father. Understanding that
fear, and subsequent symptoms, as the initial
reflex mechanism, we can see how that reflex
could easily become "conditioned"
when subjected to other stimuli that served
to trigger the traumatic memory patterns associated
with the perception of having been abused as
a child. In this, and many cases with similar
histories, the trigger which initiated the trauma
response is a thought about a perceived event.
While the actual event may or may not have occurred,
the client's thoughts about the events are the
stimulus that ultimately result in the physical/emotional
reflex action as expressed through the mind-body
complex. The reflex/response mechanism then
becomes "conditioned" via stimulus
generalization. That is, any subsequent event
that is perceived by the mind-body complex as
being similar to the initial sensitizing event,
activates the same, or similar response through
the mind-body complex.
TREATMENT-RELATED ISSUES
In dealing with survivors of
trauma, the "conditioned reflex" takes
on tremendous significance when we consider
that all of the information associated with
the trauma is encoded at the cellular level.
While it is true that each individual will respond
to trauma differently depending upon the degree
to which the traumatic situation is acknowledged
and reviewed within oneself, the fact remains
that all of the "memory" associated
with the trauma is encoded cellularly, and unless
decoded, that cellular memory can serve as the
nucleus for psychological and/or psychosomatic
illness via the "conditioned reflex."
The more frequently the memory is activated
via stimulus generalization, the greater is
the effect on the mind-body complex, and the
more likely the individual is to express the
various imbalances seen in Post Traumatic Stress
Disorders.
With the expanding view of
mind-body therapies over the past decade or
two, a number of therapeutic tools have come
to light that appear to serve as methods for
decoding, or perceptually reframing, traumatically
encoded cellular memory patterns. Various types
of meditation, guided imagery, hypothesis and
other mind-body techniques are showing tremendous
promise in helping individuals create effective
coping mechanisms relative to perceived, or
actual, traumatic memories. By reestablishing
the ability to cope with the traumatic memories,
the conditioned reflex mechanisms apparently
become decoded at the cellular level thus discharging
the stimulus generalization effect on cellular
function. How this actually occurs is not completely
understood, but it is theorized that reviewing
the various circumstances of a traumatic event
during hypnosis, meditation etc. may reactivate
the stress-released hormonal substances that
originally encoded that event at the cellular
level. The cellular memory is then brought into
contact with normal cognitive function thus
allowing the traumatic memory to be therapeutically
reframed.
CONCLUSION
While our understanding of
the mind-body complex may be in its infancy
from a scientific perspective, it is becoming
increasingly clear that the neurochemistry of
emotion is a key factor that must be considered
if any therapeutic intervention is to have lasting
effect. All memory is encoded at the cellular
level. Any mind-body procedure that beneficially
alters destructive cellular memory patterns
should be carefully evaluated as to its value
in management of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders
and other psychosomatic and/or psychological
conditions.
©1998 by
The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic
Stress, Inc. |
