Anxiety is a complex and multifaceted emotional experience that is a normal part of the human condition. It can manifest in various forms and degrees, ranging from occasional worry to more intense and persistent feelings of fear and apprehension. Given your interest in trauma therapy, neuroscience, and emotional intelligence, exploring anxiety from these perspectives can provide a comprehensive understanding.
By Linda C J Turner, Therapist & Advocate — Linda C J Turner Trauma Therapist | Neuroscience & Emotional Intelligence Practitioner | Advocate for Women’s Empowerment ©Linda C J Turner © 2025 Linda Carol Turner. Content protected by copyright.Reproduction or redistribution in any form requires prior written permission from the author.When quoting or referencing, please cite:… Read More The Quiet Alchemy
When someone says “Let’s stay friends” and then disappears, it can feel like a quiet kind of heartbreak — confusing, painful, and strangely unfinished.You’re left wondering: Did they mean it? Did I do something wrong? Why does this feel worse than a clean break?Neuroscience and psychology give us powerful answers. 🧠 Your Brain Craves Predictability The human brain is… Read More The Neuroscience of Mixed Signals: Why “Let’s Stay Friends” Hurts More Than Goodbye
Summary When a person is suicidal, pressuring, threatening, shaming, or isolating them to get compliance is not only cruel — it is a form of coercive control that dramatically increases risk of self-harm and suicide. This behaviour exploits vulnerability, amplifies fear and hopelessness, and may be criminal in many jurisdictions. (See legal guidance and evidence… Read More Putting someone under excessive pressure when they are suicidal — coercive control as a weapon
By Linda Carol When a relationship ends, it should bring space for calm. But for many survivors of coercive or emotionally abusive marriages, separation is not peace — it’s the beginning of a new battle for psychological freedom. Threats, intimidation, and manipulative contact often intensify just as the survivor tries to disconnect. Neuroscience helps us understand… Read More The Neuroscience of Coercive Control in Divorce: How Threats Hijack the Brain and How to Break Free
The term comes from Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence) and refers to moments when the limbic system — the emotional center of the brain — overrides the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for logic, reasoning, and self-control. In simpler terms: The emotional brain takes the driver’s seat, while the rational brain gets locked in the trunk. 🧩 The Brain Areas… Read More 🧠 What “Limbic Hijacking” Really Means
When someone repeatedly breaks a restraining order or keeps pursuing a victim despite the risk of arrest, they’re often driven by a combination of neurological dysfunction, emotional dysregulation, and learned behavior patterns — not simply “wanting punishment,” but an inability to regulate their impulses or tolerate loss of control. Let’s unpack what’s happening in their brain, step… Read More The Prefrontal Cortex: Impulse Control Breakdown
When someone repeatedly violates boundaries — especially legal ones — it often reflects dysregulation in the brain’s self-control and emotional regulation systems. 1. Overactivation of the Limbic System The amygdala, the brain’s emotional alarm center, becomes hyperactive.They perceive rejection or loss not as a normal life event but as a threat to identity.This can trigger a flood of stress… Read More 🧠 Neuroscience: What’s Happening in the Brain of Someone Who Breaks a Restraining Order
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) isn’t about being “neat,” “organized,” or “a perfectionist.” It’s a complex neuropsychological condition involving intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental rituals (compulsions) that people feel driven to perform in order to reduce anxiety or prevent something bad from happening. 🧩 The Brain Circuits Involved Modern neuroscience shows that OCD involves dysregulation in specific brain circuits, particularly… Read More 🧠 Understanding OCD: The Neuroscience and Psychology Behind It
Denial is not just psychological — it’s neurobiological.When the brain encounters something threatening to identity, reputation, or emotional safety, the amygdala (fear center) and anterior cingulate cortex (conflict detector) activate.This triggers avoidance circuits — the brain unconsciously blocks awareness or reshapes reality to reduce emotional pain. In other words: “If I don’t admit it, I don’t have to feel it.” The brain… Read More 🧠 1. The neuroscience of denial: fear and self-protection
You can see the pattern in every picture — birthdays, holidays, celebrations.The smiles around you are bright, the music is playing, yet beside you is that same expression: a cold, hostile glare that never softens.Even on his own birthday, surrounded by friends, the cake lit and the room full of warmth, his eyes stayed fixed… Read More “The Look That Never Lied: The Psychology of Hatred and Survival”
