The brain, and consequently the mind, of a traumatised person functions differently from that of a non-traumatised person. And since all perception of massage is mediated via the nervous system, it follows that a traumatised person's experience of a massage may differ from that of a non-traumatised person. The statement 'massage is relaxing' may not apply.
To be more specific, trauma is a word that has become overused and devalued much like stress has become. A person might say 'I'm traumatised, my email program isn't working!' Even if a person is involved in a shooting, car accident or some genuinely traumatic event, it doesn't mean they themselves will become traumatised.
Many people recover with time, rest and the supportive presence of family and friends, without suffering ill health or ongoing mental distress. They get their minds back. But some people who've been through trauma don't recover and develop PTSD. (Post traumatic stress disorder). They don't get their minds back. Their brains and central nervous system (CNS) functioning are altered.
Simple and Complex Trauma
Babette Rothschild is a leading expert on trauma. She divides trauma into 2 main categories. Simple trauma is the effect of either a single or unrelated series of events that happens to an adult whose life experience up to that point has be relatively ordinary. The CNS of such a person is stuck in fight or flight.
The second main category is complex trauma. This refers to chronic events early in life when a child's brain is developing, such as ongoing abuse or negect. In this case there is a failure of development of the top down pathways that transmits information from the cerebral hemispheres to midbrain and hypothalamus to brain stem. Instead the bottom up pathway is permanently switched on i.e from brain stem to hypothalamus to cerebrum.
For those that suffer from complex trauma, the information that is relayed from the sensory receptors and from the proprioreceptors, stimulated by massage, arrives at the cerebral hemispheres, that part of the brain that registers meaning. However, it then fails to have any impact on the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal axis or the autonomic nervous system (Alan Schore).
Relaxation Can Be Undesirable
It's similar to the brain being stuck in the general adaptation syndrome but in addition the trauma brings with it dysfunctional thought processes. These may included flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, inability to relax because of the fear of what might happen by lowering the mental defenses, and inability to switch the incident off.
Massage is always thought to be desirable, but the physical relaxation it brings induces mental relaxation. This may not be what the trauma patient requires.
About the Author:
The author is a massage therapist, psychotherapist and craniosacral therapist and supervisor in private practice in London, England. Su can be contacted at her london psychotherapy practice or at london psychotherapy.
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