Managing PTSD is possible with help

I cannot begin to express how important this article is. It points out there is no cure for PTSD. The longer it lasts, the more things change including the mind itself. That is why it is vital to getting help as soon as possible. Still Vietnam veterans are a living testament that healing is possible even when they suffered up to 40 years without any help at all. As soon as you start talking about it, it stops getting worse. Read this article and then we'll talk about how to get there.

Panelists say post-traumatic stress disorder can't be cured, can only be managed
Fayobserver.com
By Caitlin Dineen
Staff Writer
April 24, 2013

There is no way to cure post-traumatic stress disorder, but those suffering from it can learn to manage it, health professionals said Tuesday night.

Kevin Smythe, a supervisory psychologist in the Mental Health Service Line at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, said managing the disorder is currently the only option.

"There are a lot of ebbs and flows (with the disorder)," Smythe said.

He was one of five panelists to speak about the disorder and post-traumatic stress symptoms.

The Cumberland County Public Library headquarters on Maiden Lane hosted the event, where about 60 people attended to learn more about the disorder and how it affects the community.

Other panelists included John Bigger, of the Regional Area Health Education Center; Dr. Harold Kudler, associate director of the VA's Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center for Deployment Mental Health and medical lead for the VISN 6 Rural Health Initiative; Heidi Vance, a licensed professional counselor associate and yoga therapist; and Molly VanDuser, a national certified counselor.

Post-traumatic stress starts after some life altering event that can be visible through several symptoms, including irritation, nightmares and hypervigilance, Kudler said.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is when those symptoms have lasted longer than a month and affected one's ability to work and socialize. It is a diagnosed disorder, he said.
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Step 1 Understanding it
Understand what PTSD is. It does not begin with you. It begins with a traumatic event that puts you in fear for your life. That is the only way to get it. It hits you.

Undertand that while there are many causes for PTSD, while they are all treated the same way, one day will come when experts understand the types must be treated differently. Treating someone with PTSD associated with combat should not be treated the same way a woman gets it after childbirth. It is not just the one event that sets it off but the threat of it happening again, the number of events piled on others and the duration of the dangerous environment being "where you live."

If you start talking about what you survived in a safe place with someone able to just listen to you patiently, you are able to bring that horrible event into the safe place and sort it out. Make sure you talk about the event from start to finish. What were you thinking and what was your intent? Too many of you have the horrible frozen in your mind and you end up focusing on that aspect. You forget what else happened. Talking about it helps you see "the whole movie" and not just the outcome. You can't understand how the ending happened in a movie if you don't watch the whole thing.

Talking about it this way removes you from the event and brings you into the safe place.

Crisis intervention teams have been doing this for years with police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors of other traumatic events. If it is done right, you are also able to remember goodness that was happening at the same time.

The reaction of people in the crowds after the Boston marathon bombings, rushing to help, even though they knew another bomb could explode, showed that there are more good people caring about others than the two perpetrators meaning to harm. If you acknowledge that then you stop thinking that either God abandoned you or does not exist. When good rises above the bad, God is there. When you are able to feel compassion for others even after something like that, God is there.

Know that you are not evil if you grieve at all or feel compassion for someone else. Evil people do not grieve for others. They feel no empathy. Most of the veterans experiencing PTSD have a strong level of compassion and that ability to feel more for others carries the ability to feel more pain than others do. You need to focus on what really happened in a different way. It takes a bit of work but it is vital in healing.

Step 2 take care of all of you

That means your mind with therapy and often medication to level the chemicals in your brain. Remember each part of you is connected to the other parts. Seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist must be part of this. They need to be experts on trauma and able to understand what is happening inside of you. If you are seeing someone and they do not understand the difference between mental illness and trauma, they will not give you the proper treatment. If they are experts on it your healing will being.

It means taking care of your body. You just spent a lot of energy training it to do things so that you would be able to withstand combat. It learned fast. It learned how to react to the adrenaline jolt.

This is a great video on that. It is about a fire, flight or fight response.

When faced with immediate danger, the brain releases adrenaline, a hormone secreted from glands above the kidneys. In the case of a police officer confronted with a raging fire surge, adrenaline triggered the body to release stored ATP so the officer could run faster.

It is also in this video I made in 2007. It used to be on YouTube but I moved it to Great Americans in 2009.

You need to teach it to calm down again. This can be done with many different approaches. One may not work for you but keep looking until you find what works best on this. Taking walks, meditating, Yoga, martial arts, swimming, music, writing and getting massage therapy.

Proper food and vitamins along with getting rest because of what you put your body through during deployments and trainings.

Stay away from alcohol. That adds to depression. Numbing yourself prevents healing.

Until the above approaches start to work, notice how you are reacting to other people and events. If you feel yourself getting angry, take a deep breath and ask yourself how important is it to react to what just got you angry. Most of the time it really wasn't that big of a deal and in the process of doing this, you are changing the way you react to a lot of things.

The spiritual part of you must also be addressed since combat PTSD is associated with the "moral injury" and one of the heroes on this topic is Jonathan Shay. He was writing about it and treating veterans long before most the new generation was in grade school.


Seek spiritual healing based on where you are and what you already believe. Go to Point Man International Ministries and find an Out Post in your area. If you can't find one near you, call the number and ask to speak to someone. We do it on the phone as well as in person.

Talk to a member of the clergy and if they do not understand what you need, have them call Point Man and we can help them get caught up on how to help you. Remember most people care but few understand.

Talk to your family and let them know what is going on with you and help them understand so they can help you. You don't have to tell them every gory detail but they do need to know why you are acting the way you are. If they know then they will be able to understand and not take it personally.

Above all else, do not give up!