"In order for something to be 'traumatic,' you have to think you are about to die, Wilson (2006) adds the second part of the definition – psychological injury or annihilation: "We have learned through traumatic stress studies that there are many psychological equivalents of torture and ways to attack the self, destroy identity, and rape the soul"
"... even persons who do not develop full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, will experience a number of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress: flashbacks; intrusive thoughts and memories; hyperreactivity; avoidance of persons, places, things, and other triggers; jumpiness; and other symptoms" (Williams & Poijula, 2002).
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a real illness. You can get PTSD after living through or seeing a traumatic event, such as war, a hurricane, rape, physical abuse or a bad accident. PTSD makes you feel stressed and afraid after the danger is over. It affects your life and the people around you.
When we experience something, our minds take in feelings and emotions and puts words to our memories. Our minds put a narrative to the way we felt when it creates memories. When someone goes through a trauma, it’s like their brain blows a fuse from being overloaded, it can’t send information to be processed, so there isn’t a clear narrative. That’s why it’s hard for people to remember traumatic experiences they’ve been through. That’s why people disassociate themselves in traumatic experiences. It helps their brain from having to confront the overload.
When someone’s experienced a traumatic event, it’s very important they are able to process it by talking, etc.
Simple traumas would be a car accident, a fire, seeing something happen to someone like a heart attack. They can be processed by simply talking about them and confronting them.
Complex traumas are when someone’s been abused, especially child abuse or rape. These are events that affect the person’s sense of self. They think they are a bad person and question themselves. They may take responsibility for the actions or feelings of those who have hurt them. They may become disassociated and talk about themselves in 3rd person (Saying he or she instead of I).
With PTSD, people over react to stress, and it doesn’t resolve in the regular course of events. It’s a series of responses. Symptoms can be hyper ness (too much/overly) great anxiety, stress, can’t relax or let go-flashbacks; or Numbness (too little) under react, depression, denial, ignore.
PTSD can cause problems like• Flashbacks, or feeling like the event is happening again • Trouble sleeping or nightmares • Feeling alone • Angry outbursts • Feeling worried, guilty or sad
PTSD starts at different times for different people. Signs of PTSD may start soon after a frightening event and then continue. Other people develop new or more severe signs months or even years later. PTSD can happen to anyone, even children.
Medicines can help you feel less afraid and tense. It might take a few weeks for them to work. Talking to a specially trained doctor or counselor also helps many people with PTSD. This is called talk therapy.National Institute of Mental Health
What can I do if I think I have PTSD?
If you think you have PTSD, it's important to get treatment. Treatment can work, and early treatment may help reduce long-term symptoms.
If you think you have PTSD:• Talk to your family doctor.• Talk to a mental health professional, such as a therapist.• If you're a veteran, contact your local VA hospital or Vet Center.• Talk to a close friend or family member. He or she may be able to support you and find you help.• Talk to a religious leader.• Fill out a PTSD screen and take it with you to the doctor. An online PTSD screen is available for PTSD related to stressful military experiences, but you can also answer the questions as they would apply to any other traumatic event.
Many people who might need assistance with something like the symptoms of PTSD are afraid to go for help.• 1 out of 5 people say they might not get help because of what other people might think.• 1 out of 3 people say they would not want anyone else to know they were in therapy.
A study that's been done of soldiers coming home from Iraq found that only 4 in 10 service members with mental health problems said they would get help. Some of the most common reasons they gave were:• Worried about what others would think• Thought it might hurt their military career• Might be seen as weak
Why seek help?
Here are some of the reasons why you may want to seek help. Seek help because:Early treatment is better
Symptoms of PTSD may get worse. Dealing with them now might help stop them from getting worse in the future. Finding out more about what treatments work, where to look for help, and what kind of questions to ask can make it easier to get help and lead to better outcomes.PTSD symptoms can change family life.
PTSD symptoms can get in the way of your family life. You may find that you pull away from loved ones, are not able to get along with people, or that you are angry or even violent. Getting help for your PTSD can help improve your family life.
PTSD can be related to other health problems
PTSD symptoms can worsen physical health problems. For example, a few studies have shown a relationship between PTSD and heart trouble. By getting help for your PTSD you could also improve your physical health.
It may not be PTSD
Having symptoms of PTSD does not always mean you have PTSD. Some of the symptoms of PTSD are also symptoms for other mental health problems. For example, trouble concentrating or feeling less interested in things you used to enjoy can be symptoms of both depression and PTSD. And, different problems have different treatments.
While it may be tempting to identify PTSD for yourself or someone you know, the diagnosis generally is made by a mental-health professional. This will usually involve a formal evaluation by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker specifically trained to assess psychological problems.What you can do?
If you have PTSD or PTSD symptoms you may feel helpless. But, there are things you can do.Here are ways you can help yourself:• Learn more about PTSD from this website or from other places.• Talk to your doctor or a chaplain or other religious leader• Go for a PTSD evaluation by a mental health professional specifically trained to assess psychological problems.
If you do not want to be evaluated but feel you have symptoms of PTSD you may choose "watchful waiting." Watchful waiting means taking a wait-and-see approach.• If you get better on your own, you won't need treatment.• If your symptoms do not get better after 3 months and they are either causing you distress or are getting in the way of your work or home life, talk with a health professional.
In a few cases, your symptoms may be so severe that you need immediate help. Call 911 or other emergency services immediately if you think that you cannot keep from hurting yourself or someone else.
What treatments are available?
Today, there are good treatments available for PTSD. When you have PTSD dealing with the past can be hard. Instead of telling others how you feel, you may keep your feelings bottled up. But talking with a therapist can help you get better.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one type of counseling. It appears to be the most effective type of counseling for PTSD. There are different types of cognitive behavioral therapies such as cognitive therapy and exposure therapy. There is also a similar kind of therapy called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) that is used for PTSD. Medications have also been shown to be effective. A type of drug known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which is also used for depression, is effective for PTSD.
Move eyes left to right, up and down, move fingers in front when moving eyes. Helps process. Moves thingS from left to right brain. That’s healing compare to REM sleep, essential time experiences are processed during sleep. Process things not resolved during the day. Exceedingly affective.
Disassociation is the lack of flexibility to experience all your feelings and emotions. When your thoughts or feelings are not connected to (separated from) what you are doing (your actions).
Repetition compulsion is when something has happened to you that you could not process or figure out, so you are driven to do it again (repeat it) until it makes sense to you. You need to experience or go through it again to figure it out. You repeat the experience to try to trigger the memory, so you can find it to finally process it and figure it out (work through it-process it in your mind).
Trigger is something you associate with an event and it reminds you of the memory (emotions, etc). It can be a small thing.
Flashbacks happen because you mind was not able to process an event for a good narrative in your past. Because of the overload, your mind lets through different memories (feelings, etc) about the event in an unclear manor, at wrong times and wrong ways.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Book:
"Your Sexually Addicted Spouse: How partners can cope and heal" by Barbara Steffens Ph.D LPCC (She knows J.G. Farr , professor Ed. Psych. U of U)
Betrayal Trauma is one of the worst traumas to process because the person being harmed is not able to accept the fact, that the person who is suppose to protect, love or take care of them (whom they love), is hurting them (especially if that person’s been kind to them before).
"... even persons who do not develop full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, will experience a number of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress: flashbacks; intrusive thoughts and memories; hyperreactivity; avoidance of persons, places, things, and other triggers; jumpiness; and other symptoms" (Williams & Poijula, 2002).
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a real illness. You can get PTSD after living through or seeing a traumatic event, such as war, a hurricane, rape, physical abuse or a bad accident. PTSD makes you feel stressed and afraid after the danger is over. It affects your life and the people around you.
When we experience something, our minds take in feelings and emotions and puts words to our memories. Our minds put a narrative to the way we felt when it creates memories. When someone goes through a trauma, it’s like their brain blows a fuse from being overloaded, it can’t send information to be processed, so there isn’t a clear narrative. That’s why it’s hard for people to remember traumatic experiences they’ve been through. That’s why people disassociate themselves in traumatic experiences. It helps their brain from having to confront the overload.
When someone’s experienced a traumatic event, it’s very important they are able to process it by talking, etc.
Simple traumas would be a car accident, a fire, seeing something happen to someone like a heart attack. They can be processed by simply talking about them and confronting them.
Complex traumas are when someone’s been abused, especially child abuse or rape. These are events that affect the person’s sense of self. They think they are a bad person and question themselves. They may take responsibility for the actions or feelings of those who have hurt them. They may become disassociated and talk about themselves in 3rd person (Saying he or she instead of I).
With PTSD, people over react to stress, and it doesn’t resolve in the regular course of events. It’s a series of responses. Symptoms can be hyper ness (too much/overly) great anxiety, stress, can’t relax or let go-flashbacks; or Numbness (too little) under react, depression, denial, ignore.
PTSD can cause problems like• Flashbacks, or feeling like the event is happening again • Trouble sleeping or nightmares • Feeling alone • Angry outbursts • Feeling worried, guilty or sad
PTSD starts at different times for different people. Signs of PTSD may start soon after a frightening event and then continue. Other people develop new or more severe signs months or even years later. PTSD can happen to anyone, even children.
Medicines can help you feel less afraid and tense. It might take a few weeks for them to work. Talking to a specially trained doctor or counselor also helps many people with PTSD. This is called talk therapy.National Institute of Mental Health
What can I do if I think I have PTSD?
If you think you have PTSD, it's important to get treatment. Treatment can work, and early treatment may help reduce long-term symptoms.
If you think you have PTSD:• Talk to your family doctor.• Talk to a mental health professional, such as a therapist.• If you're a veteran, contact your local VA hospital or Vet Center.• Talk to a close friend or family member. He or she may be able to support you and find you help.• Talk to a religious leader.• Fill out a PTSD screen and take it with you to the doctor. An online PTSD screen is available for PTSD related to stressful military experiences, but you can also answer the questions as they would apply to any other traumatic event.
Many people who might need assistance with something like the symptoms of PTSD are afraid to go for help.• 1 out of 5 people say they might not get help because of what other people might think.• 1 out of 3 people say they would not want anyone else to know they were in therapy.
A study that's been done of soldiers coming home from Iraq found that only 4 in 10 service members with mental health problems said they would get help. Some of the most common reasons they gave were:• Worried about what others would think• Thought it might hurt their military career• Might be seen as weak
Why seek help?
Here are some of the reasons why you may want to seek help. Seek help because:Early treatment is better
Symptoms of PTSD may get worse. Dealing with them now might help stop them from getting worse in the future. Finding out more about what treatments work, where to look for help, and what kind of questions to ask can make it easier to get help and lead to better outcomes.PTSD symptoms can change family life.
PTSD symptoms can get in the way of your family life. You may find that you pull away from loved ones, are not able to get along with people, or that you are angry or even violent. Getting help for your PTSD can help improve your family life.
PTSD can be related to other health problems
PTSD symptoms can worsen physical health problems. For example, a few studies have shown a relationship between PTSD and heart trouble. By getting help for your PTSD you could also improve your physical health.
It may not be PTSD
Having symptoms of PTSD does not always mean you have PTSD. Some of the symptoms of PTSD are also symptoms for other mental health problems. For example, trouble concentrating or feeling less interested in things you used to enjoy can be symptoms of both depression and PTSD. And, different problems have different treatments.
While it may be tempting to identify PTSD for yourself or someone you know, the diagnosis generally is made by a mental-health professional. This will usually involve a formal evaluation by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker specifically trained to assess psychological problems.What you can do?
If you have PTSD or PTSD symptoms you may feel helpless. But, there are things you can do.Here are ways you can help yourself:• Learn more about PTSD from this website or from other places.• Talk to your doctor or a chaplain or other religious leader• Go for a PTSD evaluation by a mental health professional specifically trained to assess psychological problems.
If you do not want to be evaluated but feel you have symptoms of PTSD you may choose "watchful waiting." Watchful waiting means taking a wait-and-see approach.• If you get better on your own, you won't need treatment.• If your symptoms do not get better after 3 months and they are either causing you distress or are getting in the way of your work or home life, talk with a health professional.
In a few cases, your symptoms may be so severe that you need immediate help. Call 911 or other emergency services immediately if you think that you cannot keep from hurting yourself or someone else.
What treatments are available?
Today, there are good treatments available for PTSD. When you have PTSD dealing with the past can be hard. Instead of telling others how you feel, you may keep your feelings bottled up. But talking with a therapist can help you get better.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one type of counseling. It appears to be the most effective type of counseling for PTSD. There are different types of cognitive behavioral therapies such as cognitive therapy and exposure therapy. There is also a similar kind of therapy called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) that is used for PTSD. Medications have also been shown to be effective. A type of drug known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), which is also used for depression, is effective for PTSD.
Move eyes left to right, up and down, move fingers in front when moving eyes. Helps process. Moves thingS from left to right brain. That’s healing compare to REM sleep, essential time experiences are processed during sleep. Process things not resolved during the day. Exceedingly affective.
Disassociation is the lack of flexibility to experience all your feelings and emotions. When your thoughts or feelings are not connected to (separated from) what you are doing (your actions).
Repetition compulsion is when something has happened to you that you could not process or figure out, so you are driven to do it again (repeat it) until it makes sense to you. You need to experience or go through it again to figure it out. You repeat the experience to try to trigger the memory, so you can find it to finally process it and figure it out (work through it-process it in your mind).
Trigger is something you associate with an event and it reminds you of the memory (emotions, etc). It can be a small thing.
Flashbacks happen because you mind was not able to process an event for a good narrative in your past. Because of the overload, your mind lets through different memories (feelings, etc) about the event in an unclear manor, at wrong times and wrong ways.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Book:
"Your Sexually Addicted Spouse: How partners can cope and heal" by Barbara Steffens Ph.D LPCC (She knows J.G. Farr , professor Ed. Psych. U of U)
Betrayal Trauma is one of the worst traumas to process because the person being harmed is not able to accept the fact, that the person who is suppose to protect, love or take care of them (whom they love), is hurting them (especially if that person’s been kind to them before).
No comments:
Post a Comment