SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

What trauma, victory & peace have in common by (me!) ~topps

 fresh off watching, PBS, Your Brain, Who's In Control, season 50, episode 10.

    -most grateful it answered a question about how trauma gets passed from one generation to the next.  i remember the first time someone shared this with me

my initial reaction, was  -honey, they are teaching you a bunch of BS..   /which i thought to myself, but did not share out loud

how could a trauma (PTSD) be passed on  -biologically?  i understand, responses/behaviors could be passed on,  

i.e.,  grandparent experienced trauma of losing a loved one to a car accident which involved a drunk driver

parents were raised with hyper awareness surrounding drinking/driving..  and they raised their children with the same concerns, which influences decisions/behaviors..   -not genes; write?

but, a biological,  -dna-  gene change resulting from trauma carried forward to the next generation?  i doubted it..   oh my goodness did i pass PTSD on to my double blessings?    let this knowledge increase the prison sentence for predators!  criminals! evil-doers! 

  -also, what do we make of people, passed child bearing age, who will never have off-spring..  what about these trauma survivors..

anyway, 

in this episode, bianca jones marlin, PhD, columbia university explains in a way that i can understand.

    'trauma changes the way genes activate in the body and in the brain'

 giving a synopsis here:

she studies mice.  she creates a shock which is permanently associated with the smell of almond for the given mice.

smell almond/shock..    trauma.   repeat.

what she noticed and observed, is that this resulted in a GROWTH of new cells in the noses of the mice; it created (gave birth to) more cells dedicated to the smell of almonds.  (receptor cells, expressing..)

let me make up numbers:  prior to the almond/shock implementation  - 50 cells which responded to the smell of almond

after (?) number of smell almond/get shocked experiences..  -100 cells which now respond..

and most importantly, 

she observed that the off spring of these mice, were born with a higher number of cells dedicated to the smell of almonds

it did get passed to the next generation.    ( i clearly understand this!  thank you!)

she went on to say,  -to sum up what has been learned

  'there is memory which is maintained in sperm; in egg; in implantation and then represented in off spring'     and  'it is as if we are observing a change in evolution over the time span of one generation'

and 'i think that's fascinating'

******

i experienced a great deal of pretty severe trauma in my youth; multiple traumas

there is no itemizing how many new cells my experiences gave birth to!    -that would be awesome to have only one..     almond/shock

that is so manageable..

And God only knows, what extra receptor cells expressing fear/paralysis/hypervigilance, i genetically passed on to my off-spring as a result

but i'd like to focus on this:   that what is true of trauma, is also true of peace, faith, love

look what has happened in just one generation when it comes to joel osteen, and/or joyce meyer

   let's take joel osteen.. his father, born into dysfunction/poverty, was the first in his family to give his life to Christ at age 17..

he dedicated his life to ministry..   i believe many more Jesus receptor cells were created, which made an association between Jesus, as Lord & Savior and peace and love and a victorious life  -many more cells growing..    (also saying,  this is important) 

obviously! this was passed on to his off spring 

look at joel osteen in the compaq center.    you can do the same science and math with joyce meyer,  -look what happened in just one generation..!    no one with faith, generations of incest and dysfunction, and she gave her life to Jesus,    -the chainbreaker, pain taker, way maker..

and in just one generation..   today all four of her children also serve the ministry

***

and my own personal testimony, life story, is pretty compelling

without bullet pointing, rehashing all the traumas, i'm going to point this out

   prior to having children, a son, a daughter,   -tons of trauma; severe PTSD

   i have been cultivating a relationship with Jesus for many, many years now  -through prayer, through Bible teachers, through reading the Bible, through articles,  etc.

there was still another trauma to experience/process/handle, after my children were grown..  so, i'm not concerned about passing it to the next generation

what astonishes me, is that, i know some adults now, who are participating in grief counseling

that doesn't astonish me, 

what does, is that, i have zero need or desire for trauma therapy, for counseling, for medicine, for outside help..

when robert's sister was violently murdered in 2019..    especially if you consider that i had PTSD, earlier on, which would increase my risk for..

but, i had so cultivated a relationship with Jesus by this time..

and i credit exclusively, my Christianity, as the reason i coped so well, and continue to..

     i wish i had before & after xrays of my inner-self, my mind, my heart, my spirit, 

prior to being kidnapped/raped; prior to having a gun at my temple; prior to the bank robbery..

renewing my mind daily..    becoming a new creature..   experiencing peace beyond human understanding..    becoming more than a conqueror..   living to experience 'due season'

living a victorious life..

long list.

my life experiences inspire me to share that beginning and cultivating a relationship with Jesus; becoming a believer; a Christian; walking in love; fighting the good fight of faith..

finding and remaining on the narrow path..

i would only encourage this        -have you experienced trauma?  are you the innocent child of someone(s) who experienced trauma and passed it on to you?

Let Jesus get a hold of you.  Get a hold of Jesus.  Let Jesus be your invisible BFF

****

as a result of my life experiences; observations; studies, etc.

i think re-living traumatic events in controlled environments to help desensitize an individual, or 'heal' them

is the most stupid, counter-productive practice ever; it is a dangerous way to treat trauma and causes further damage.

    -dilute trauma; do not engrave it.

****

worth study:  holocaust survivors; their off spring; any families (members) who gave their life to Jesus; increased their peace cells; love cells;   -and passed this on to the next generation

Jesus is like the opposite of trauma.   Jesus is the antidote 

****

we are flesh and spirit

our brain (flesh)   -there is no end to how you can trick it; tease it; challenge it..  provide optical illusions; puzzles..    false/positives..   

when the motive is to learn, understand, help, serve, aid, cross-train, educate, enlighten;  -all good.

when the motive is to undermine; manipulate, deceive/trick with ill intention; create unnecessary doubt & insecurities;  -no good.

***

we are flesh and spirit

our bodies (flesh)   -i am so grateful to see the advances in medicine & science; specifically, by learning about the connection between the brain and motor skills and touch sensory

today, doctors can take a person who has had a stroke and lost 'feeling' in a hand, a leg..

and by some pretty remarkable achievements in surgery, they can  (layperson vocabulary here..) they can insert and adjust and fix the connection between the brain and hand, for example

so, now the person can actually  'feel' the book in their hand, and also, can use their mind + computer to ask their hand to pick up the book, and use motor skills they lost due to the stroke

this is remarkable! awesome!  wonderful!   (it's flesh)   -keep going..

and A.I. is also making remarkable achievements!

my goodness, A.I. can carry on a conversation, give advice, create new recipes, write poetry, songs...

  -what robots can do..    what computers can do..

they can 'feel' and process and respond to texture

   -but, it would be when an A.I. manifestation, feels insecure; feels peaceful/content; feels inspired  (not programmed to..

autonomously    -moved to tears and laughter  (not programmed to....)     internally experiences awe...

when an A.I. manifestation, is motivated by love to keep going, in the face of great exhaustion..

when A.I. has its feelings hurt, and needs to forgive others and/or itself..

****

every advance increases my awe & appreciation of the human being as a true masterpiece.

in Jesus name,  hallelujah & amen. 

****

add on..    really not so new, this information..     eric kandel, had prior shared..

 ALL repeat experiences (traumatic, mundane, joyful) increase cells dedicated to...

which is why, for example, a food taste tester's taste bud cells will increase with time/experience..

why, i probably only had 2 paper-loving cells, but i worked with this paper, that paper, over and over, and i'm certain i grew additional paper-aware-receptors, i became much more savvy about identifying different papers with my eyes closed..

it is my belief and understanding, that while the 'trauma gets passed to off spring' was explained well, 

   -it's just not exclusive to trauma

we know this already, don't we..    new cell growth throughout your entire life, and repetition of specific experiences will result in increases of that dedicated responsive/expressive cell, specifically.

more later, 

amen. 

posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 7:25 PM