After tragedy, brain needs to heal

Courtesy of CNN.com | By Deepak Chopra, Special to CNN

This article was written in 2012, after the mass murder in Connecticut. Although it is close to 3 years since the tragedy, the article still has relevance today.  I don’t know about you, but with stories such as the mentally ill Maryland mother who was pushing her dead 3-year old in the swing for 3 days, the Charleston, SC murders, the death of Sandra Bland, it is all TOO MUCH!  We all need some healing. Today.  Peace – B.D.
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Deepak Chopra says holding each other is one way to cope with the overwhelming stress of grief. (Image courtesy of CNN.com)

Two reactions seize people in the face of a horrific event like the mass murder of little children in Newtown, Connecticut. The first is shock, the second is a rush into activity.

The reason we rush into activity is to escape the numbness of shock and the pain that follows it. But if we bury ourselves in every detail of the story, staying glued to the TV, reliving the event in our imaginations and obsessing over the meaningless of violence, we may be working against the healing process rather than helping it.

Medical science knows a lot more about the effects of trauma on the brain than it did even five years ago. One salient point is that post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, affects not just the immediate victims of violence, whether in war or the result of crime, but also bystanders and witnesses.

Continue Reading ” After tragedy, brain needs to heal”

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