"Chronic stress induces significant gene expression changes in the prefrontal cortex alongside alterations in adult hippocampal neurogenesis"
>In this study, unpredictable chronic mild stress in mice resulted in a deficit in neuronal dendritic tree development and neuroblast migration in the hippocampal neurogenic niche. To investigate molecular pathways underlying neurogenesis alteration, genome-wide gene expression changes were assessed in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and the hypothalamus alongside neurogenesis changes. Cluster analysis showed that the transcriptomic signature of chronic stress is much more prominent in the prefrontal cortex compared to the hippocampus and the hypothalamus. Pathway analyses suggested huntingtin, leptin, myelin regulatory factor, methyl-CpG binding protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor as the top predicted upstream regulators of transcriptomic changes in the prefrontal cortex. Involvement of the satiety regulating pathways (leptin) was corroborated by behavioural data showing increased food reward motivation in stressed mice. Behavioural and gene expression data also suggested circadian rhythm disruption and activation of circadian clock genes such as Period 2.
[1] https://academic.oup.com/braincomms/article/2/2/fcaa153/5912...
The animals in the study, as expected, showed depression-associated and hyperactivity behaviors. This study wasn't looking at any specific thing in a fine-grained sense, let alone trying to establish causation. But "no link" seems like quite a stretch.
Is the world often stressful and scary? Yes. But the lessons that trauma teaches a child do not help the adult manage fear nor stress. For example: a child who has to care for their alcoholic parent can risk growing into an adult that doesn’t know when they’re being taken advantage because they were literally taken advantage of since childhood. A child who was severely beaten at the slightest infraction risks growing up into an adult that cannot handle even minor conflict because they associate being disagreed with to broken bones.
Some have those results. Some have the opposite results and lean into learning how to handle those situations. That is also a very common reaction.
Firefighters, EMTs, Nurses, Paramedics, LEO, smoke jumpers, and many Soldiers of all stripes have the same backgrounds. 80%+ in my experience. A surprising (perhaps) numbers of skydivers and climbers too.
Including the West Point graduates, special forces (officers and enlisted), SWAT members, ICU and ED nurses, etc. that I’ve known personally.
And several CEOs of tech companies.
One that I know who I personally saw beaten (as a child) at the slightest infraction or none at all until I stepped in (as a child myself) to stop it, became a decorated officer in USSOCOM and did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan. And at least two (now) Majors and a Colonel I’ve known since they were kids.
The world is not as simple as it appears.
Most folks who end up in uncommon places did so because they experienced uncommon things and learned lessons from it that most people never will have the chance to learn.
Folks who haven’t learned those lessons tend to not survive many of those places for long.
Childhood trauma is a routine area of clinical specialization because it is so common, and I've never known anyone in that field to hold this position. Anecdotally sure yes plenty of traumatized children become successful adults but very simply and grimly most do not. Extreme survivorship bias at play here, often literally.
And separately I am not sure, in this context, considering what we now know about the behavior of american soldiers in afghanistan, that people being drawn to that environment or succeeding within it is evidence of anything positive about them.
And not like anyone who has gone through these situations is going to hang a sign on them that says what they’ve gone through.
All of them I know have been quite successful however, and if you walk into any ICU or Emergency department and randomly sample a nurse or Dr, at least 80% odds you’ll find they have that background if you can get them to talk.
EMT-B or EMT-P, much higher.
The world is a dangerous and scary place many times, for everyone. Chances are, you’d be shocked if you listened to your local EMS/LEO frequencies at how much even within a few miles of where you are sitting.
Most of the time, society is able to put up a facade so there is a chance everyone doesn’t have to experience it too directly or too terribly themselves, so others have a chance to live a different life.
The sick and injured get treated, the bodies get cleaned up, the threats get dealt with quickly and effectively, etc.
The people that do that, can stare it in the eye and deal with it, and that often is because they experienced it and learned how to cope or even thrive. Usually as a child.
Respect for that is more warranted than what you’re doing. They get enough shit as it is.
They can handle it though, they deal with worse every day.
Part of the problem is that we often focus on what could have been, instead of the wins of what was, no? Part of what makes things hard though, is if we never process/feel the bad things, we can’t move on.
When we process the pain, we can start to let go, and the wins start to come through.
It becomes a past, not a present. We can start to see the truth of what is in front of us, instead of getting stuck in an illusion.
Some learned/were able to earlier, some later. In my experience. We can look at the future more than relive the past.
Some avoid it, and that is often where true evil takes root.
‘Toughing it out’ works in the moment, but adds up over time until we hit our limits. The longer the pain stays in, the more it calcifies. Often, if it’s ‘stuck’ it’s due to something that is very difficult to see due to how bad it is.
No one comes through life without some grief and loss and pain, literally no one. Some get more than others, some handle it more than others.
In the end, we’re all dirt anyway - what matters is what we do with the time we have. I hope you find some peace. It is possible, but it is often not natural.
If you’re still struggling, there may be alternatives that can help. They do often take time and money.
I’m happy to provide some pointers or references if you’d like. No guarantees, but I have had some significant personal relief as have others. It is possible.
I am telling you that no one is better with trauma than they would have been without it. It's a simple message please hear it. I don't need anything else from you.
What I did note is trauma exists, and trauma is nearly everywhere at some point unless someone goes through a lot of work protecting others from it. But also that it’s impossible to protect everyone from it all the time forever.
And that has costs that some have learned to bear better than others, and there are tools that can help if one is willing to engage with them.
It is possible to not be in pain, eventually.
That no one can be better after experiencing it depends a lot on what you mean by ‘better’. There are easier paths, of course.
Society wise, I’ve known a lot of folks that society calls (justifiably, IMO) heros, and have had to trust my life to them and vice versa in situations that most people definitely, provably, can not handle. But that if not handled would cause far worse trauma to other innocent people.
And I’ve found the label appropriate. They’ve also experienced a lot of pain, and none are perfect. Neither am I.
I’ve held more dying men’s hands than anyone should have to. But it was important someone did it, and I was there.
I wish you and anyone else reading this the best of luck, regardless.
In the TBI and trauma cases, though, the external stresses are negative, not positive, thus the adaptations are negative as well. Teach a young brain that the world is stressful and scary and the brain will remember this, and act that way even when removed to a less scary world.