An alternative explanation for the effect of EMDR

Added: Jul 12, 2008

From: ansgar1965

Duration: 1:40

Please note that this video is not scientifically tested. So be careful. An alternative explanation for the effect of EMDR and an idea to improve this effect (short version): Fast eye movements are a part of the fear reaction. Trauma can develop, if a fear reaction does not run normally. Thus an enhanced EMDR treatment should provoke eye movements and also encourage the patient to show a fearful face with far opened eyes and a far opened mouth. So the information-processing can run better. In this way fears can be processed better, since the patient is led back to the origin of the fearful situation -- the perception and information-processing. An alternative explanation for the effect of EMDR and an idea to improve this effect (long version): Here it is marked that by a fearful face expression the environment can be better noticed. It can be more seen, more smelled and more tasted, since the eyes are far opened and the view goes fast around, the position of the nose wings is changed and the mouth is far opened. This has to collect much information to the goal as fast as possible find a good way out of the fear-releasing situation. In the Stone Age this fear reaction had surely usually outstanding functioned and humans had not permanently suffered from their fears, because the fear reactions were briefly persisting and appropriate reactions. But today it is not simple to find a fast and good answer on a threat and so the strong excitation of the fear reaction can become an immobilizing feeling of fear. If for example somebody met a tiger, then one could run away and bring oneself in a cave in security. But how reacts someone meaningfully, if someone is for example in an underground and then a technology-malfunction occurs? Here it is appropriate that humans be aware first of all that a fear reaction can run. This begins with the perception. Humans must be aware that all characteristics of the situation can be noticed now excessively clearly. And to these characteristics of the situation belong also the perception of strong physiological reactions: high heart rate, high blood pressure, accelerated respiration and sweating hands. These perceptions serve also the information of humans in the sense: „Now the body is ready for fighting or for running away." If the situation is not clear for a fast meaningful decision, then the perception of the combat or escape readiness is not meaningfully and disturbs the necessary thinking procedures. Since the physical excitation is not reduced by fight or escape, the physical excitation can rise finally further and become an immobilizing feeling of the fear. Now it can help to shift the attention away from the body to characteristics of the environment. This perception-change can already reduce a strong physiological excitation. So humans can request themselves to be calmly and to light up exactly each small characteristic of the environment. For example: „Where is an alarm button?" or „Is there a connection to the outside world, in order to get assistance?" or „Smells it burned, so that I must immediately break a window here to have fresh air?" or „Where are the tools for breaking the window?" Thus humans must back to the origin of management of the situation and must not stop at the terminator point -- the perception of the physiological excitation. This technology is used also in the so-called „Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing" (EMDR). During EMDR a patient arranges the perception on the outside world -- for example with eye movements -- while the patient is aware of fearful experiences at the same time. In this way deeply sitting fears can be processed. I suppose, that it is not only meaningfully to move the eyes -- it could be also helpful to show further characteristics of a fearful face like far opened eyes and a far opened mouth. But the expression of fear is often not socially accepted. The expression of fear can be felt of many humans as a „disturbance". And we also want to show by suppressing the fear expression that we are strong and that nothing can make us nervous. But there are situations for each human, in which we are weak and dependent on the assistance of other humans. I supposed that a cause for the frequently founded fear illnesses is the inhibiting of fear-indications. If for example during a technology-malfunction in the underground the perception is not directed through a fearful face toward the outside world, then body-signals can be noticed more, that has to be the consequence that the fear continues to continue. Since no fearful face is shown, also nobody hurries to the assistance or speaks to us sedative -- so the humans remain alone with its fear. Thus it is a task of training against stress to encourage humans in threatening situations to show their fear and accept that others could reject this.

Channel: Tech

Tags: and  creativity  desensitization  disorder  emdr  eye  movement  post  ptsd  relaxation  reprocessing  stress  traumatic 

Rating: 5.00 (2 ratings)    Views: 149' favoriteCount='1    Comments: 1

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