Overcoming together the traumas produced by natural disasters

A recent research has been carried out by Marco Pagani, researcher of the Institute of Cognitive sciences and technologies of the Italian National Research Council (Istc-Cnr) in Rome. The research has documented, with electroencephalographic monitoring techniques (EEG), the cerebral effects deriving from the re-processing of a traumatic memory (https://www.cnr.it/it/news/5761/dall-emdr-un-aiuto-per-superare-i-traumi). In particular, the research has offered, for the first time, an experimental validation of the theoretical-empirical hypotheses of Francine Shapiro about the psychophysical effects of traumatic memories.

Pagani’s studies were conducted on a sample of people who were victims of the San Giuliano di Puglia earthquake in 2002. Pagani has shown how, by stimulating in those people the painful memory of the earthquake experienced, prefrontal and visual cerebral areas were activated. These are the areas that are commonly activated in presence of painful emotions. The sample of people under investigation has then carried out a re-processing of their traumatic memories of the earthquake, thanks to a group of operators who used the EMDR methodology proposed by Shapiro. Re-processing required only a few hours of work and has been carried out until each interested person said that he did not experience any more negative feelings in recalling the experience she has gone through. The sample was then again subjected to the same stimulus of the memory of the earthquake, repeating the EEG monitoring. This time the electroencephalographic analyses revealed the activation of the temporoparietal regions only. These latter are the brain regions that are associated to the cognitive and associative interpretation of the memories. No activation of the prefrontal and visual cerebral areas was observed in this case (https://www.cnr.it/it/news/5761/dall-emdr-un-aiuto-per-superare-i-traumi).

(Extract of the video made on May 7, 2014 in Rome, on the occasion of the presentation of the research carried out by M. Pagani at the conference “Treatment of Trauma at San Giuliano di Puglia in Molise, ten years after the earthquake” organized by the Emdr Italia Association, Cnr and Tor Vergata University)

Pagani’s researches have therefore provided an instrumental validation of the existence of unprocessed memories (the Italian acronym is RINOEL) and the possibility of resolving their effects. Such researches have particular relevance, given the earthquake that occurred in summer 2016 in the Amatrice area. As it has been demonstrated, the re-elaboration of a traumatic memory can in fact overcome the many negative consequences that the memory of such a trauma can cause in the population. Below is shown, as an example, the testimony of Mrs. Nunziatina Porrazzo (http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/Come-superare-un-trauma-e-ritrovare-la-serenita-La-psicoterapia-EMDR-e8596180-910e-4657-b0b4-6c2fa0dba086.html?refresh_ce) :

“After the death of my son I could no longer drive – said Nunziatina Porrazzo, mother of Luigi, who died at the age of seven under the ruins of San Giuliano’s school – I could not remember what I had to do or what I had just done”. “The years went by, but I could not go back to my usual life, I suddenly felt pain in various parts of the body – explained Nunziatina – and instead, after just the first sessions of EMDR I immediately felt better, the memory is still there, but now I live it with serenity”.

Donwload attachment

Further details

Go to the whole video “Il trattamento del trauma a San Giuliano di Puglia…” »
Go to the article “Dall’Emdr un aiuto per superare i traumi” » 
Go to the article “Come superare un trauma e ritrovare la serenità?…” »