The Human Body Doesn’t Make Mistakes
Does trauma change cause fundamental changes?
I know we are all unique, every person is different, and each case will respond differently.
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, I can say that is simply not true.
We are practically identical in every way, and our bodies follow the same rules, codes, and programming as everyone else.
So whatever your particular snowflake syndrome is that makes you so unique, let me say that I am not speaking to you here but to everyone else.
Feel better? Good, no hate messages this time, please.
Trauma as a cause of addiction or other health conditions is something that people try and make a connection to or even possible causation, and honestly, I agree and yet don’t.
It may have some validity, so I am not saying it isn’t possible or trying to discredit the concept, I prefer to explore what we do know and can measure or test currently rather than making any leaps into the hypothetical discussions.
If a process happens in our body, good or what we think is bad, then it means there is an evolutionary reason for it that is beneficial, and it has a place.
Rather than fighting what we deem bad about any response, developed condition, or pathway, I prefer to find the benefit and understand that.
All mechanisms and pathways in the body are complex, and trauma can not create new ones spontaneously, but it can damage them, causing the body to create “workarounds.”
For a genetic change in any pathway or response, it takes a very long time and lots of stimuli.
Most of what we deem as a “bad reaction” is a very intelligent response to something we haven’t considered and can be a reflection of the changes seen in these workarounds.
When we wish to change any situation in our health, mental or otherwise, on a fundamental level, what usually needs to occur is strengthening the response or pathway that is weak and breaking down the workarounds.
When we are going on a car trip, and the main highway is damaged, and we create detours, they are not as efficient or ideal to get where we are going causing us to take some more turns into possibly unfamiliar areas and slow our progress to where we want to go.
The detour will get us past the damaged area and keeps us going in the general direction but is not the same by any means as the original route on the highway.
Once that highway is repaired, we can return to the usual route and get back on track.
These workarounds that the body creates are like that detour, and to restore the route we need, we have to first repair the main road and then stop using the workaround. Repairing the road and continuing to use the same workaround doesn’t do us much good or improve our trip.
By discontinuing the detour, we keep things moving effectively on the highway and our trip going as planned.
Many times we start living through our own detours we make, and even if we work to rebuild what is needed, we keep using those detours when we need to take them down and use the main road as designed.
The habit of taking what once was a needed detour or even a shortcut will eventually hold us back and slow our progress, and therefore it’s not enough to fix the road, but the detour and the habits around using it have to go as well.
This is what I see happening with many trauma cases of all types. We get through it and continue to use coping mechanisms as we repair the damage and then never get back on track using the main road. The workarounds are now easier or engrained in us, and if they are not addressed as well, we never get back on track, and the route we want to travel is never the same.
As you work on any trauma, be it emotional, physical, substance-induced, or lifestyle-induced, always be on the lookout for the workarounds you and your body have created to help along the way.
When they are no longer needed, take them down and reinforce the main road and behavior you want and need.
We can do better!
Don
