The brain is incredible at making patterns and identifying cause and effect. It’s part of our survival instinct. The brain wants to identify patterns to make sense of the world around us and keep us safe. It files information away in narratives that we return to again and again when making decisions. However traumatic events are like hot memories that the brain struggles to find a proper place to store. A memory or emotional experience might lay dormant for a while, but it can be woken up when you experience another event that feels stressful and unsafe, triggering an emotional response that is tethered to the fear and damage of an earlier experience.

Read More