Posted by Larry Hoover on June 2, 2003, at 9:20:24
In reply to Re: Found Psychological Babble - p.s. memory » Larry Hoover, posted by Squiggles on June 2, 2003, at 8:14:40
> Larry,
>
> Just one more thing, i forgot to add in my
> previous reply to you; i do believe there
> are ways of altering the effects of PTSD on
> behaviour, but i don't know how (at least
> one) practical this is.
>
>
> - actual topical brain surgery of memory
>
>
> The other is simple -- remove the offending
> stimulus from the person's environment.
>
>
> SquigglesYour reply raises issues around locus of control. One way of looking at it is by placing reactivity and proactivity on a continuum. Or, consider whether you believe the choices you make affect your environment, or whether the environment determines your experience.
One common social construct is the belief that someone can "push your buttons". That it's the other person's fault (the button pusher) if that happens, showing disrespect, manipulation, yadda yadda.
But whose buttons are they? How did they get there? Why do they work so well?
And, why do you let them continue to exist? Why do you leave them exposed for anybody to push? And, how many buttons do you have that you yourself push?
Desensitization from trauma-related stimuli is an extinguishing event. You can end the "button-pushing drama", once and for all. Avoiding the stimulus doesn't accomplish that, because life is full of stimuli, and one day, you're going to meet it again.
Psychosurgery is an option, but hardly one with long-term benefit.
With reference to the 30-year passage of time issue.....
Unexamined issues, the skeletons in your closet, remain suspended in time. They don't go away. They don't change. They just wait. If you never examine them, they remain. If it takes thirty years, so what? It's irrelevant.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:230572
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030529/msgs/230754.html