When the past haunts the present: An EMDR story

Sometimes trauma settles deeply in the mind and body and wreaks a kind of clandestine subterranean warfare, turning the body against itself and manifesting strange, frightening, disabling, and even life-threatening symptoms. Sophie's trauma simmered for 16 years, making her life difficult but still mostly manageable. Suddenly, however, she was waylaid as her trauma metastasized into something infinitely more dangerous.  A long torturous course through emergency rooms and various specialists eventually ended up on a therapist's couch, holding an oscillating paddle in each hand, walking directly into the mindscape of her mother's death.


Links
EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)
https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/emdr-taking-a-closer-look/

Video explaining fight/flight (sympathetic nervous system) vs freeze (parasympathetic nervous system) and their roles in PTSD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6M1FumqeyM

The parasympathetic (freeze) response is tied to allergic and asthmatic reactions
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4039300/

Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com