“Losing Your Body, Losing Your Self”

[Trigger warning: somatization of trauma]

From Chapter 6 of the book “The body keeps the score” by Bessel a. van der Kolk, M.D.:

‘ […] Over the yers our research team has repeatedly found that chronic emotional abuse and neglect can be just as devastating as physical abuse and sexual molestation. […] Not being seen, not being known, and having nowhere to turn to feel safe is devastating at any age, but it is particularly destructive for young children, who are still trying to find their place in the world. ‘ 

‘ […] Many of my patients respond to stress not by noticing and naming it but by developing migraine headaches or asthma attacks. […] Somatic symptoms for which no clear physical basis can be found are ubiquitous in traumatized children and adults. They can include chronic back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, digestive problems, spastic colon/irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and some forms of asthma. Traumatized children have fifty times the rate of asthma as their nontraumatized peers. ‘

‘ […] All feelings of emotion are complex musical variations on primordial feelings.’  [from “Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain” by Antonio Damasio]