Hey John!
You really did an excellent job with this series on PTSD. I know it must have been difficult as there are so many opinions out there about this disorder and also how to treat it.
I am glad that member Judy was able to comment as she has much experience with attempting to heal from PTSD and if you haven't already done so...I would encourage everyone to read my interview with Judy about using EMDR as a therapeutic approach to heal from PTSD. She gives a very honest appraisal of what her personal experience has been like.
It is a fascinating and seemingly popular topic these days. All of a sudden it has been taken out of the landscape of solely war and combat to...a reaction to all sorts of traumas.
There was an interesting article in Scientific American magazine about this topic where they say that this disorder may be wildly overdiagnosed. And I am sure some feel that it is underdiagnosed.
I am sure there will be much more information about this disorder in the years to come. Thank you so much for all your hard work to put together these articles.
Looking forward to reading your next posts.
Hi, Merely Me -
Thanks so much for your encouragement and for the references. Both these articles are quite valuable as I continue to work on this topic. I can well understand the concern about overdiagnosis of PTSD. I have the same complaint about the DSM criteria for depression, and the overdiagnosis of bipolar in children has gotten a lot of publicity recently. It would be great if the ongoing revision of the DSM took care of such problems, but even though the directors of the project have expressed a lot of concern, the basic system of drawing lines between conditions that share many characteristics works against them.
I've recently signed up with Anxiety Connection and look forward to reading your posts there.
John
Hi Hypno
I saw these recent comments on John's post and I guess I am curious about what spurred on your passion about responding to a post that is a year old.
I am also wondering about your reply here: "There is no longer a need for you to be anxious...so stop it now ...your choice of course!"
Is this meant for me...for anyone...for John? I am not sure what message you wish to convey. As a person who suffers from anxiety...it is not really something one can stop at will. One could misperceive your message as a scolding of some sort. Nobody chooses to have anxiety or depression. I wish it were that simple of a matter...then we could un-choose to have these disorders but that really is not the case.
My opinion is that you mean well. You want to help. Your heart is in the right place. You obviously have had some strong life experiences which you want to talk about. And that is great. But I fear your message of hope and your good intentions are going to be missed because of your delivery. This is just my perception...but the way you are saying things in these comments...comes across as a bit preachy and overbearing. I do not want to hurt your feelings but sometimes a mirror is good to see what others may be seeing. This is what I am seeing in your comments to this post.
We want you to share here. We want to hear about your life experiences. But maybe sometimes a small preface of..."this is what worked for me...it might not work for anyone else"...may help. It would help us more if you could talk about your personal experiences and not focus so much upon what you feel others are doing wrong in their coping with depression or anxiety. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to this. We are all just trying to cope in our own way.
Please do come down from the pulpit and be with us. Talk to us as you would a friend. Allow yourself to be vulnerable...it is worth the risk.
We want you here. You have many gifts to share. It would be nice to see the real you come out. That would be more helpful than all the advice in the world about which therapies we should use.
Thanks for listening.
There are many people who must deal with PTSD and not all of them are from the military. Many of us have developed PTSD as a result of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse as children. Other people have developed the disorder because of disasters or other difficult to deal with events. The causes may be different, but the illness is the same. We react to every day triggers as though our very lives depended upon it. What everyone seems to be missing here is that these behaviors at one time kept us safe. They were adaptive behaviors for the situations in which we found ourselves. Only because our situations have changed have these behaviors become maladaptive. So now it is the task of psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, as well as ourselves, to learn new ways of coping. To do this we must let go of the old ways of coping that no longer serve us well in today's reality. For me, part of the healing (which is an ongoing process) is in being able to talk about it without re-experiencing it. That means I must have a safe place to do so and with people with whom I feel safe also. This has not been an easy road to travel and I'm sure there will still be bumpy times ahead. The thing aobut our mental processes is that it doesn't seem to travel in a straight line from illness to wellness. It is a squiggly line. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down, and sometimes it meanders near the middle. But don't be fooled into thinking that it is stagnant or even stable, for tomorrow it may take another plunge. But part of healing for me is realizinig that's okay too. It's part of the journey. Above all things, we need to be gentle with ourselves and with our symptoms. With time and effort, wellness will come.
It's wonderful that you're so far along with recovery. You've communicated beautifully how it can work. Some people do need to re-experience the trauma to be free of the maladaptive behavior - but an absolutely safe environment, and only after careful preparation, is essential. I didn't have room in this post to go into the trauma that even more people experience that has nothing to do with the military. There are so many forms of single-event and chronic trauma that produce the same symptoms and require the same careful attention to healing. I plan to write about those here also.
Thanks for your excellent comment.
John
I have never placed a post before, so I am not sure what to say. I am a 47 yr. old woman who has suffered for the last seventeen years. I am diagnosed with PTSD with Severe Depression and High Anxiety. Over these last 17 yrs. I have been hosptialized 11 times. I have learned through being hospitalized a new way of thinking thanks to to counselors and their treatment. I have been on so many meds for this I can't remember how many now. However the most important thing I want everyone to know is this. Tallk it Out! Keep going to a good couselor that you trust and respect. No matter how long it takes talk it out. Go trough each and every moment you remember that troubles you, and eventually you will feel better. Then one day you will be in your counselors office and their will be nothing to talk about. I am not saying it works for everyone. But, it did work for me. It took seven years of counseloing wilth several hospitalizations and many different kinds of meds. But eventually they did find the right mixture of meds. I am much better now and live happier now. Remeber folks! TALK iT OUT phrase does work. Just try!!!!!!!!!!!!! alley 5
I'll second that. The treatment called Exposure is a form of talking it out that requires intensive repetition of the traumatic experience(s) until some emotional distance is achieved. Relaxing about what happened then becomes possible.
As you say, there's no approach that works for everyone, but avoidance of talking through the experience doesn't work for anyone.
Thanks for letting us know about your work - and congratulations on recovery. I know how hard that is to reach.
And please feel free to post more often.
John
Some will say it just retraumatises you or re-sensitiz(s)es you!!!
I say sure ...talk it thourgh but only if you are dis-associated from the emotion at the time and that you are fully committed to finding or discovering or creating your learning point or altering the imigary of the memory at the time...otherwise all you are doing is reinforcing the trauma and causing dependency on meds and therapy for seven years.....totally uneccessary ...apart from the therapists that depend upon the income!!!
Then choose new experiences ...new learning and new problem solving techniques for the future.
Try CBT.
Hypno
Hypno
I wish there was some kind of hypnosis that could latch in and unleash my subconscious. I don't remember the trauma itself, just my reaction to it, which was agonizing enough by itself.
My brain and body changed within a few months -- I stopped eating and sleeping, and I'd look in the mirror and ask out loud who or what was possessing me, because I no longer controlled how my brain was controlling my body. My brain was torturing, trying to kill me.
Anyhow, over many years I tried all sorts of therapy for eating disorders and depression (at UC med in San Francisco, mostly -- individual and group talk: between employment I went to clinics where I could get Prozac: a psychiatric nurse in Portland who prescribed Effexor xr, which was miraculous for regulating sleep. NOTHING changes eating disorders, though).
Whatever survival instinct gene that got expressed during my trauma I want removed or replaced or shut down now, because I haven't needed it for 25 years and behavioral disruptions have never let me fit in to society or any kind of stability (work, family...) I guess I want some kind of amputation.
Actually, hypnosis therapy is a well recognized form of treatment for trauma and a number of other conditions. It's compared to meditation as a form of inducing a trance state that not only helps recover memories but creates a stronger ability to focus and relax. It has to be part of more comprehensive treatment, and whatever is learned during hypnosis needs to be fully integrated into the action part of your awareness. It also supports cognitive therapy and has helped many people gain control over bodily states - like pain. Michael Yapko is one of the foremost practitioners and lecturers on this subject and has an authoritative text called Trancework. Another book on trauma in general that mentions the role of hypnosis and altered states of consciousness is Judith Herman's Trauma and Recovery - a tremendously influential book in the field. Generally, as with depression, every treatment needs to work with a number of others to get you anywhere. But I'd check out hypnosis - a good resource, with a directory of certified practitioners, is the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
I hope that is some help.
John
Guess what....if you are highly anxious and alert to dangers as in PTSD...you won't be able to recover half as well using hypnosis as the CBT approach...until you are able to relax properly ...so EFT may be a better initial approach and CBT using the imigary techniques associated with hypnosis.
Hypno
The "amputation" you require is amputation from the CRUTCH you are supporting (rather than it supporting you)..ie. cut off your eating disorder by remembering you are a human being that needs normal nutrition and normal nurturing of yourself...now care for yourself...take responsibility and accountability for following a normal healthy diet that is nutritionally balanced and allows you to become your full potential.
Hypno
I have been diagnosed with PTSD since late 2005 after Hurricane Katrina (I am from New Orleans). My PTSD was/is a fairly sever case. I have always seen a psychiatrist...so immidiately after I was able to get out of the flood water and to Dallas...I sought out a psychiatrist. I knew that something was very wrong with me. I don't have to tell you my symptoms...you are an expert. Since late 2005...I tried countless drugs. Unfortunately, my body processes medication poorly (maybe because I am on so much)...so I could not land on a drug long enough to even make the dose high enough to be considered "theraputic." After I was able to get out of New Orleans permanantely (late 2007), I moved to NYC where there are thousands of psychiatrists. I went from one to another and tried every psych med under the sun with the same frustrateing result: unbearable nausea, dizziness, and what I call the Zombie syndrome. When I tried lamictal, it did seem to start to improve my symptoms, but unfortunately I developed Steven Johnson Syndrome. Finally, 1 Year Ago to the day, I began seing an amazing doc who clicks with me. I had to wait 3 years to get into his office, but it was worth the wait. At this point, I developed an attitude about the medications given in the past that was so negative....I did NOT want to try another pill. Because my doctor has been so motivating and I have just been dying to LIVE again...I was willing to try the newly released Seroquel XR. One year prior to that I tried the regular Seroquel and had a terrible reaction. The XR is a completely different animal.
It has been 1 year with my new doctor and since I have been on seroquel XR (in addition to clonezepan and varioius other meds i take anyway). I have no flashbacks, voices, extreme insomnia and countless other horrifying symptoms that came with the PTSD. The Seroquel XR saved my life. I now have my own business, am starting to enter back into the social levels of society, and feel genuienly happy. I do not pretend that I do not have PTSD. It is still there. I can't say the words "New Orleans," without bursting into tears. But...I feel human again.
I must stress to anyone that has PTSD and does not have a solution that there are 3 things you MUST KEEP IN MIND:
(1) Do NOT give up and isolate! You are not alone. Do not become a victim of the problem. I have had almost 5 years of terrible problems separate from Katrina that should have made me feel helpless. But I am not helpless. I am not alone. I may have a hard time relating to people now, but this is a small price to pay to have my semi-sanity back.
Psych meds...FOR EVERY PSYCH DISORDER (I have a few so I def know)...are different for every person. I tried 3 types of lithium, lamictal, trazadone, abilify, high levels of clonezepan, xypreza, and many others I can't remember what they were...but they did include Seroquel regular).
I did not give up. I finally found a drug I could digest, Seroquel XR. It took almost an entire year to adjust to the drug. Don't give up...a few months of dizziness was soooo worth getting my sanity back.
(2) Laugher is the BEST liferaft. I discovered that if I simply smile...even if forced...I feel better. I now on a schedule stop everything and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm. It always makes me laugh. When you can see that even trauma has room to laugh, you are no longer a victim. Self-deprication is a good thing too.
(3) Get addicted to endorphins. Actually, get addicted to endorphins from practicing a power vinyasa form of yoga. Smile when it hurts. Keep those enorphins up. Oh...and get some vitamin D via the sun.
I hope I have been any kind of helpful. Thanks.
For an instant cure to PTSD for war veterans....Three short words....Emotional Freedom Therapy!!!! EFT for short...look it up...
...and by the way...anyone who chooses to take a job that involves killing others should as a matter of course understand that they or their comrades will be maimed, hurt , killed or the very least see and witness awful circumstances happening to others and be really frightened when they are exposed to enemy fire!!!
Hypno
Hypno, you always seem to have the answer for everyone and it's a shame that we all don't have your wondrous insight. I think you should write a self-help book and make some money off this wealth of knowledge. Maybe your intentions are good, but your tone feels like you can't walk in another's shoes or allow for the fact that people are individuals with their own unique experiences and that what has helped you might not be what someone else needs. I'm glad that you have been helped because of your positive attitude and willingness to take responsibility for your own suffering. That does not mean that the rest of us have not taken responsibility for our own healing or cure or whatever you want to call it. Sorry if I sound defensive - which probably means I'm not taking responsibility for something - but saying that all you have to do is X or Y can give people the impression that if they can't do X or Y, they are failures and lazy. None of us is the sole owner of the Truth.
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Thanks, John, for sharing this information about PTSD. While mine is not combat-related, I guess in some sense I could say it is based on what I had to experience and witness as a child. I've never had much luck with the quicker approaches and it finally dawned on me that what was "healing" me was therapeutic relationships, both with a therapist and with people who had lived through similar traumas. I really think there has to be a human "bridge" to share our pain and assure us that we aren't monsters or defective or whatever else we think we are. We might be lucky enough to have that in a family or friend, but the kinds of things that produce PTSD are not easily shared with just anyone. I understand the government's need for a quick fix, but I wonder how long that lasts, really. I think that intense exposure to the trauma in order to desensitive can make sense, but on the other hand, it can end up being overwhelming and leaving the person with a feeling of not knowing what to do about it. Without the human connection, it can end up in a feeling of despair. I'm glad to see, though, that there is a recognition made of the difference between "cure" and "healing" because it is, indeed, a big one.
Hi, Judy -
There is something very powerful about the human relationships in healing. That's borne out by the helpfulness of veteran groups in which people with similar experiences can listen to each other and tell their own stories in safety - without the ruinous anxiety, panic or anger that so easily undermine many other relationships.
I think you're right about the resemblance between PTSD and the gradual impact of family life that is abusive in emotional and verbal terms, if not outright violence or sexual abuse. I'm doing a post on that for my blog, Storied Mind, and should have it up soon.
Thanks for your comment.
John
Me thinks you are confusing an awful lot.... "cure"..."healing"...all that's needed is acceptance of who you are with warts and all... and a choice to think about things in a different way...same the world over and for whatever ailment....life is short...too short to wallow in self-pity. Accept responsibility and accountability for whatever you do in life and decide to choose the options that best fit all of everyone's needs and ...guess what?...no blame nor shame, guilt, nor sadness, nor depression...nor anxiety(where it is not warranted)....
Hypno
Hypno