Posted by Racer on August 12, 2004, at 12:29:09
In reply to Re: And another thing... » Ilene, posted by Pfinstegg on August 12, 2004, at 3:17:02
I'd be very interested in those studies, too -- and think for two seconds and you'll know why I would have experience with Cushing's Disease, so the whole HPA axis thing is high on my list of interests.
As for the therapy remolding our brains, was it you who brought this up when I slipped back to very old problems that I thought I'd overcome entirely almost 20 years ago through therapy? Whoever it was said, basically, that the traumatic events in my childhood (which, again, included being hit by a car and spending months in hospital/body cast/physical therapy -- I never think of that as a trauma, because I didn't have the experience to find it traumatic at the time, but my body may have experienced it differently...) created neural pathways that became a sort of superhighway system for a long time. Through therapy, we created a sort of frontage road system, if you will: we rerouted all that neural traffic onto new pathways. The old pathways were still there, but they weren't used, the pavement cracked, weeds grew, etc. With the recent traumatic events, the new highways were overwhelmed -- in this case, because they didn't work when faced with the kind of tanks they were faced with -- so the traffic got rerouted onto those old Superhighways again. That doesn't mean that the old therapy didn't work -- it did, as shown by the fact that that system hadn't been used at all in so long. It does mean that those neural pathways, once created, will always be there -- they cannot be destroyed. Therapy allows one to build new highways to reroute the traffic, which allows those old, damaged Superhighways to gather weeds.
Sorry for the amateurish analogy, but it's the best way I had to explain it. As for me, while it would be very nice to be able to wipe out all the long term effects of the trauma and just be happy and healthy and wealthy and wise - well, it would be nice to have long thick shiny hair, too, and 20/20 vision, and maybe a straighter nose, you know? While we're at it, maybe I'd like to be shorter, too -- and I want a pony and some ice cream.
Honestly, despite it all, giving up all those traumas of my childhood (and adulthood, for that matter) would also mean giving up some of my most valued experiences, as well. There's no doubt the car accident was not pleasant, but the nurses were very nice to me, my Grandma sat by my bed and read to me, once I was out of traction and had my cast they let me ride in a go-cart -- just like Curious George! -- and I have a lovely surgical scar that goes from my belly button to my sternum that I wouldn't give up for the world! (<< Although the plastic surgeon I consulted about something else thought I was nuts for saying that, it's still true.) I guess it's just that I wouldn't be me without all of it, you know?
(Aphrodite: TMS is trans-cranial magnetic stimulation. It's the use of magnets, similar to those used for MRI (I think) to stimulate certain areas of the brain -- prefrontal cortex, maybe? -- that has shown a lot of promise. I think, Phinstegg will correct me if I'm wrong, that it was being experimentally used for stroke recovery when they discovered that it also seemed to improve mood, as well.)
Phin, tell me the lastest on TMS? Did you have bilateral, or unilateral? I've read some about it, and that seemed to be the biggest question? (There's a study at Stanford, but I haven't had enough on the ball to apply for it. Maybe I should sit on a cattle prod until I do it...)
poster:Racer
thread:376265
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040812/msgs/376866.html