Many people believe trauma plays little role in contributing to the symptoms of Parkinsons. The unconscious dynamics of trauma would suggest otherwise.

Why do people conclude trauma is not a problem for them to address? Answer: Because they have no memory of troublesome past traumas in their life.

When I press the issue in my conversations with individuals currently experiencing symptoms of Parkinsons – I will often ask a few follow-up questions.

Have you ever been in an automobile accident?

Have you ever been hospitalized?

Have you visited family and friends who were hospitalized?

  • Have you ever lost a family member to an untimely death at a young age?
  • Were you confronting unrelenting stress, particularly before your systems reared their ugly head?
  • Does a close member of your family have a mental illness?
  • Have you or a member of your family served in the military in a war zone?
  • Have you ever been divorced?

I could devote the next 10 pages to adding questions like the above. Some people will acknowledge that yes – one or a few of these apply to them, but still do not believe trauma could contribute to their symptoms.

There is another dynamic at play here which embodies the unconscious dynamics of trauma. When experiences become too overwhelming for a child to tolerate before their prefrontal lobes in their brains have developed, the brain will not record them as experiences. There is no stored memory of “this is what happened to me.”

Rather, the child (and keep in mind I am referring to all of us adults when we were children) will record these scary experiences as fragments in the form of images, emotions, kinesthetic sensations, smells, sounds, tastes or impulses to take action or shout out certain words. These are all implicit memories stored in the right side of our brain as unconscious fragments.

We will often be triggered by the most harmless of situations. Perhaps a smell. Perhaps a song. Perhaps a taste. Perhaps a food that makes us vomit. Perhaps certain sounds.

In short we are triggered by events that have no impact on others whatsoever. My point?

If you have concluded trauma plays no role as the foundational cause of your symptoms, please evaluate that conclusion. My research conclusively reveals trauma of one form or another is a leading cause of neurological symptoms.

The earlier past traumas are acknowledged, released and cleared, the sooner the opportunity for symptoms to resolve.

Robert Rodgers PhD
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery ®
https://www.parkinsonsrecovery.com