Although consciousness does not retain full perception of these traumas, evidence indicates that they are located in the cortex, exerting a depressive influence on the psyche, and even without understanding the reason, the person carries a weight and feels bad.
The protective effect in relation to traumas, particularly when deeply rooted in the unconscious, can be understood as a defense mechanism to avoid constant rumination on these experiences. Although consciousness does not retain full perception of these traumas, evidence indicates that they are located in the cortex, exerting a depressive influence on the psyche, and even without understanding the reason, the person carries a weight and feels bad.
It is by bringing to consciousness the memory of the trauma, the relief over the trauma, as if removing it from where it is parked, but when unable to search, anxiety then fulfills its role of pending, but when it does not find the memory, this pending becomes constant, installed, thus promoting disorders and illnesses such as depression.
When we bring this memory to the prefrontal cortex, we sweep this memory from the unconscious by transferring it through the hippocampus. We can say that more than rationalizing a negative experience, we are facing a change in the “residence” of these painful experiences and intrusive thoughts. The combination of these two factors is the path to understanding and rationalizing the problem, promoting its relief and perhaps its cure.
By: Dr Fabiano de Abreu Agrela Rodrigues
Post PhD in Neurosciences and biologist member of the Society for Neuroscience, Sigma XI and Royal Society of Biology.
