I mentioned abnormalities in the corpus callosum, which facilitates the collaboration between the brain’s two halves, or hemispheres. Not only have the CCs of trauma survivors been shown to be smaller, but there is evidence of a disruption of functioning there as well. The result can be a “split” in the processing of emotion: the two halves may not work in tandem, particularly when the individual is under stress. One characteristic of personality disorder, a condition with which substance abusers are very commonly diagnosed, is a kind of flip-flopping between idealization of another person and
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