ank — the intelligent data storage the amygdala pulls from to figure out if it’s got a security protocol already in place for the type of threat.
Depending on the threat assessment, several things can happen in your brain and body, and this is why the oversimplicity of the fight or flight response is an outdated way of thinking. It’s possible you will be flooded with superhero levels of adrenaline that make you physically stronger and faster than you’ve ever been in your life. It’s also possible that your brain will see no way out and then activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which decreases heart rate and muscle tone, effectively freezing you in place.
And if you’ve ever had a similar threatening experience, your amygdala and hippocampus might deploy a remembered security protocol you previously created to cope that involves fawning, complying, or even laughing. These reactions are typically built up over time by people who experienced trauma as a child. Their brains have developed incredibly clever systems to appease abusers and avoid life-threatening situations.
Complying — and Even Smiling — Doesn’t Mean Assault Is Okay
I was abused at a very early age by a trusted figure. To survive that situation, I had to “be a good girl.” My brain developed a very smart fawning system that allowed me to protect myself by appeasing my abuser. I was not in control of this programming nor was I able to make the conscious decision to choose otherwise.
When I sat down in the salon chair in an empty locked room with sharp scissors against my neck, my brain didn’t give me the option to fight back. I was at the mercy of my programming — which meant I froze, smiled, and politely left before getting in my car and breaking down.
My prefrontal cortex was offline, and I didn’t have a choice to express my emotions because my brain had redirected power from that system. My parasympathetic nervous system weakened my muscles and decreased my blood flow to such an extreme that I was not able to physically move or respond. In that moment, I was the same little girl who had been abused before with the survival memory of “be a good girl.”
My silence was not consent, nor was the fake smile smeared across my face. Paying my abuser for my haircut and thanking him as I walked out the door was not an approval or forgiveness of his actions. It was survival programming, and it doesn’t make me weak or him any less guilty.
We cannot continue to rely on outdated assumptions about how people should respond to threatening situations. It’s imperative that we teach ourselves and others how the brain works, especially during moments of trauma and survival. Victim-blaming and shaming must end. We’re smarter and better than this.
11.6K claps

WRITTEN BY
Jenny Lee Corvo
Currently writing a memoir about my life as a highly sensitive, intuitive and empathetic person, to be published in 2019.
Follow
Platforms Are Making You Vulnerable
Trouble at Google and Facebook show how susceptible we are to losing control of our data — by accident or design
Colin Horgan
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Oct 8, 2018
Stop Saying Privacy Is Dead
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Evan Selinger
Oct 11, 2018
Grocery Shopping with My Mother
“Do not accept nan check”
Kiese Laymon
Oct 11, 2018
Homepage
AboutHelpLegal
'
Depending on the threat assessment, several things can happen in your brain and body, and this is why the oversimplicity of the fight or flight response is an outdated way of thinking. It’s possible you will be flooded with superhero levels of adrenaline that make you physically stronger and faster than you’ve ever been in your life. It’s also possible that your brain will see no way out and then activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which decreases heart rate and muscle tone, effectively freezing you in place.
And if you’ve ever had a similar threatening experience, your amygdala and hippocampus might deploy a remembered security protocol you previously created to cope that involves fawning, complying, or even laughing. These reactions are typically built up over time by people who experienced trauma as a child. Their brains have developed incredibly clever systems to appease abusers and avoid life-threatening situations.
Complying — and Even Smiling — Doesn’t Mean Assault Is Okay
I was abused at a very early age by a trusted figure. To survive that situation, I had to “be a good girl.” My brain developed a very smart fawning system that allowed me to protect myself by appeasing my abuser. I was not in control of this programming nor was I able to make the conscious decision to choose otherwise.
When I sat down in the salon chair in an empty locked room with sharp scissors against my neck, my brain didn’t give me the option to fight back. I was at the mercy of my programming — which meant I froze, smiled, and politely left before getting in my car and breaking down.
My prefrontal cortex was offline, and I didn’t have a choice to express my emotions because my brain had redirected power from that system. My parasympathetic nervous system weakened my muscles and decreased my blood flow to such an extreme that I was not able to physically move or respond. In that moment, I was the same little girl who had been abused before with the survival memory of “be a good girl.”
My silence was not consent, nor was the fake smile smeared across my face. Paying my abuser for my haircut and thanking him as I walked out the door was not an approval or forgiveness of his actions. It was survival programming, and it doesn’t make me weak or him any less guilty.
We cannot continue to rely on outdated assumptions about how people should respond to threatening situations. It’s imperative that we teach ourselves and others how the brain works, especially during moments of trauma and survival. Victim-blaming and shaming must end. We’re smarter and better than this.
11.6K claps

WRITTEN BY
Jenny Lee Corvo
Currently writing a memoir about my life as a highly sensitive, intuitive and empathetic person, to be published in 2019.
Follow
Platforms Are Making You Vulnerable
Trouble at Google and Facebook show how susceptible we are to losing control of our data — by accident or design
Colin Horgan
Oct 11, 2018
A Star Is Born, But Only With a Man’s Help
Bradley Cooper’s new film is not the love story it appears to be
lindsey romain
Oct 8, 2018
Stop Saying Privacy Is Dead
Our lives are still rich in personal privacy — and we should fight to keep it that way
Evan Selinger
Oct 11, 2018
Grocery Shopping with My Mother
“Do not accept nan check”
Kiese Laymon
Oct 11, 2018
Homepage
AboutHelpLegal
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Forwarded from 🔊 @NotesOnRefuge • Live Collaborative Notes On Refuge • Intuitive Public Radio • IPR ••• (Max (Meg Morris))
' As we look at the research on mold toxicity and toxins in general, we propose that the medical community (by all its names) has focused too much on the “yellow canaries” and missed the big picture that toxins have now become a primary driver of disease in the general population, not only among those most susceptible.
The mold toxicity conundrum illustrates this issue quite well.
As summarized in this editorial, there clearly is a portion of the population, the size of which is currently unknown, who experience neurological and/or immunological damage from mold toxicity.
In addition, a substantial portion of the population experiences chronic respiratory problems from mold exposure.
This does not mean we should stop paying attention to our more affected patients.
Rather, we need to realize that almost everyone is being affected by toxins to some degree: molds, metals, solvents, persistent organic pollutants, etc. '
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982651/
The mold toxicity conundrum illustrates this issue quite well.
As summarized in this editorial, there clearly is a portion of the population, the size of which is currently unknown, who experience neurological and/or immunological damage from mold toxicity.
In addition, a substantial portion of the population experiences chronic respiratory problems from mold exposure.
This does not mean we should stop paying attention to our more affected patients.
Rather, we need to realize that almost everyone is being affected by toxins to some degree: molds, metals, solvents, persistent organic pollutants, etc. '
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982651/
PubMed Central (PMC)
Is Mold Toxicity Really a Problem for Our Patients? Part 2—Nonrespiratory Conditions
In my last editorial, I addressed the respiratory effects of mold exposure. The surprising research shows that as many as 50% of residential and work environments have water damage1 and that mold toxicity should be considered in all patients with ...
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Forwarded from 🔊 @NotesOnRefuge • Live Collaborative Notes On Refuge • Intuitive Public Radio • IPR ••• (Max (Meg Morris))
' An important study suggests that individuals exposed to satratoxin (SH), a trichothecene, and microbial organisms results in a chronic immune response (inflammation and oxidative stress) leading to neural damage.18
Their results demonstrate that “regardless of whether the neurons were exposed to SH alone or under additive effects, the sensitivity of the neurons to these compounds is high and neurological system cell damage can occur from SH exposure.”
In addition, these data demonstrate that constant activation of inflammatory and apoptotic pathways at low levels amplifies the devastation and leads to neurological cell damage from indirect events triggered by the presence of a trichothecene mycotoxin.
And they concluded, “From this study and others, we show that neurological system cell damage from exposure to mycotoxins is a potential public health threat for occupants of water-damaged buildings.” '
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982651/
Their results demonstrate that “regardless of whether the neurons were exposed to SH alone or under additive effects, the sensitivity of the neurons to these compounds is high and neurological system cell damage can occur from SH exposure.”
In addition, these data demonstrate that constant activation of inflammatory and apoptotic pathways at low levels amplifies the devastation and leads to neurological cell damage from indirect events triggered by the presence of a trichothecene mycotoxin.
And they concluded, “From this study and others, we show that neurological system cell damage from exposure to mycotoxins is a potential public health threat for occupants of water-damaged buildings.” '
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4982651/
PubMed Central (PMC)
Is Mold Toxicity Really a Problem for Our Patients? Part 2—Nonrespiratory Conditions
In my last editorial, I addressed the respiratory effects of mold exposure. The surprising research shows that as many as 50% of residential and work environments have water damage1 and that mold toxicity should be considered in all patients with ...
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Forwarded from 🔊 @NotesOnRefuge • Live Collaborative Notes On Refuge • Intuitive Public Radio • IPR ••• (Max (Meg Morris))
Twitter
Gregory Mansfield
On this Disability Day of Mourning, let us rightfully focus on those disabled people who are murdered by family & caregivers rather than those who demonize & dehumanize us, dismiss us as “burdens” & use that as a basis to excuse killing us. #DDoM2019
Forwarded from 🔊 @DysIntuitive • Disability & Dysbiosis • Dysfunction • DisIntuitive, DysIntuitive • IPR ••• (Max (Meg Morris))
Twitter
Alice Wong
CW: murder, filicide, ableism, violence, violence, abuse, torture, hate Today is the 2019 Disability Day of Mourning. You might wonder what this is about. If you are an ally/co-conspirator with the disability community, listen to us & learn. #DDoM2019 #DDoM…
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Forwarded from /r/Pics
Forwarded from /r/Pics
Forwarded from /r/Pics
Here's my contribution to #trashtag. My (large) family and I cleaned up this beach we camped near over the summer!
http://redd.it/azai72
http://redd.it/azai72
Forwarded from /r/Pics
Forwarded from /r/Pics
Forwarded from /r/Pics
We come from a small island called Bahrain where people don’t care about the beaches cleanliness. This us our contribution
http://redd.it/azf1y8
http://redd.it/azf1y8