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Brad Schipke explains that PTSD isn't permanent brain damage, though it does enlarge the amygdala and shrink the hippocampus. These structural changes can reverse through healing and trauma processing, as shown on brain scans.
Brad Schipke explains that PTSD isn't permanent brain damage, though it does enlarge the amygdala and shrink the hippocampus. These structural changes can reverse through healing and trauma processing, as shown on brain scans.
Is PTSD brain damage? Well, the answer is no, it's not brain damage, but it does change your brain. So trauma alters parts of your brain, like your amygdala, which grows, and your hippocampus, which shrinks. But the most important thing is that your brain can change back. Yes, trauma distorts our brain and changes our brain, but with healing, our brain can change back. And brain scans show that after processing trauma, the amygdala shrinks and the hippocampus grows. Your brain is plastic. It changes throughout your entire life. So even though trauma changes it, we can change it back.
