If you are contemplating a field in mental health, God bless you

The clock is ticking at worldometers! 8 billion people as of January 2, 2023, at 8:15 on the east coast of the United States. As for the US, "DEC. 29, 2022 — As the nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau today projected the U.S. population will be 334,233,854 on Jan. 1, 2023."

We know that PTSD does not just happen to veterans in the US. We know that it strikes human survivors. And now we know that most of the causes are because of what other humans do. The top five causes are all about other people doing something to cause the trauma.

(Check the link and see where the information came from.)

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Statistics: 2022 Update
CFHA

Report Highlights
6% or 3 in every 50 American adults will have gone through PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives [9].
The leading cause of PTSD is sexual violence at 33%, with 94% of rape victims developing symptoms of PTSD during the first two weeks after their traumatic experience [23] [28].
PTSD is most prevalent among American adults between the ages of 45 and 49 years old at 9.2% [12].
Women have a lifetime PTSD prevalence rate of 9.7%, compared to 3.6% in men [17].
Civilian women have a lifetime prevalence rate of 8%, compared to 13.4% among military women [24].
11% to 23% of veterans have experienced PTSD within a given year [2].
About 17.2 veterans die by suicide each day, with veterans being 1.5 times more likely to die by suicide than civilians [2].
3 in 10 or 30% of the first responders have PTSD [6].
6 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy can help ease symptom severity by about 50% in 21% to 46% of patients with PTSD [7].
People with PTSD who use cannabis for their symptoms are 2.57 times more likely to recover from this condition [3].
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an intense, uncontrollable emotional and physical reaction to a reminder of a traumatic event or distressing memories [4]. This abnormal response to triggers can last for days and even years after the harrowing incident or traumatic event.

Think about what that all means to people in the US, as well as around the world. For all we know about PTSD and the results of the causes, we will never know how many people have PTSD.  There are far too many that will not be diagnosed and never enough people to be able to diagnose and treat the survivors. As long as we keep doing a lousy job of letting people know what PTSD is, why they have it, and give them hope, as well as a way to heal, we will keep seeing the suffering that does not have to happen.

Take the information you just learned and try an experiment on your own. Ask a friend or family member what they know about PTSD. If the response you get is the same one I've gotten for the last 40 years, they will say it is something veterans get. While we know that is not true, we know that they are the only group reporters want to cover. Even fewer reporters want to cover those serving today as if that makes sense to them. Why bother to report on when the events take place?

The clock is ticking around the world on the population of the planet but it is also ticking on the time lost when people survive what others do to them, but they don't have someone doing something for them.

If you are contemplating a field in mental health, God bless you because the world needs more people like you!

Kathie Costos author of Ministers Of The Mystery series

PTSD: The trauma experienced by migrants is typically two-fold

Border crisis complicated by migrant PTSD: report

NY Post
By Jesse O’Neill
January 1, 2023

A Border Protection officer leading zip-tied migrants after they were taken into custody on January 1, 2023.James Keivom

The trauma experienced by migrants is typically two-fold: they are suffering from the memories they left behind while also carrying around mental anguish from their journeys, Byimana explained.

As a surge of asylum seekers overwhelm southern border cities, “most” of the migrants are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from their harrowing trip into the US.

The migrants’ arduous ordeals are often marred with violence, kidnappings and sexual assaults, according to Dr. Brian Elmore, who volunteers for weekend shifts at a shelter in El Paso, Texas.

“Most of our patients have symptoms of PTSD. I want to initiate a screening for every patient,” said Elmore, an emergency medicine doctor at Clinica Hope.

In many cases, the grueling hardships had been exacerbated by the pandemic emergency measure Title 42, which has been used to expel more than 2.5 million migrants from the US since March 2020, according to the Saturday report by the Associated Press.
read more here

Ukraine's children fighting PTSD--teaching all of us how to heal

Providing Psychological Support to Ukrainian Children

United Help Ukraine Through a unique international collaboration, United Help Ukraine is sponsoring and raising funds for the Hibuki Therapy Project. “Hibuki” means “Open Embrace” in Hebrew.

First developed by Israeli child psychologists in 2006, the Hibuki intervention uses a specially designed toy dog to support the mental health and recovery of children impacted by war trauma. Now we are bringing Hibuki dogs to Ukraine and countries of relocation to help countless children who have experienced the unimaginable.

This play-based intervention brings comfort and helps children share their emotions, which are often hard to process or communicate to adults who can – and want – to help. Hibuki dogs and therapy are provided to all families free of charge through a network of specially trained mental health professionals.

In Ukraine, children are one of the most vulnerable groups and are severely impacted by the ongoing crisis, and UHU is committed to providing psychological aid through the Hibuki Therapy Project.

All of the Hibuki toys and therapeutic support is provided to Ukrainian children free of charge through a network of specially trained volunteers and mental health professionals.

Israeli innovation helps Ukraine's PTSD-afflicted children

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: DECEMBER 6, 2022

Kinder Velt Child Trauma Center in Ukraine

(photo credit: Courtesy)

The children's trauma center in Ukraine draws on experience from another country that knows war and terror too well: Israel.

As war rages on in Ukraine and a season of bitter coldness and erratic electricity commences, a center started by an Israeli-Ukrainian is administering developmental and psychological therapies to the nation's children.

“When we began seeing how deeply the children were suffering, we resolved to take action,” said David Roytman, who splits his time between Israel and his native Odessa, and founded the Kinder Velt (Children's World) Center nearly three years ago.

Roytman, an internationally-acclaimed artist and multimillionaire whose luxury Judaica company earned him the reputation as the ‘Jewish Louis Vuitton,’ is familiar with anxiety and trauma from war.
read more here

From me,

We learn how to heal after others did so we can learn from them. We can learn from their mistakes and pass on their successes. The most important thing we gain from listening to other survivors battling PTSD is hope! Our world may be dark one day but does not have to stay dark forever. Their struggles shine a light on the way to healing.

Christian religious leader from 7th century was a woman!

U.K. archaeologists unearth 7th century treasures owned by a woman who may have been Christian religious leader

CBS News
DECEMBER 6, 2022

"We are now looking at places we would never typically have looked at, and as a result, we are finding genuinely unexpected things." Simon Mortimer

Liz Barham, senior conservator of the Museum of London Archaeology, displays an early medieval gold and gemstone necklace during a photo call, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. KIN CHEUNG / AP

The Harpole Treasure – named for the village where it was found, about 60 miles northwest of London – was unearthed in April by archaeologists working with property developer Vistry Group on a neighborhood of new houses.

Researchers say the burial took place between 630 and 670 A.D., the same period as several other graves of high-ranking women that have been found around Britain. Earlier high-status burials were mostly men, and experts say the change could reflect women gaining power and status in England's new Christian faith.

The Kingdom of Mercia, where the Harpole Treasure was found, converted to Christianity in the 7th century, and the woman buried there was a believer, maybe a faith leader. A large and ornate silver cross was placed on her body in the grave. It is adorned with tiny, astonishingly well-preserved likenesses of human heads with blue glass eyes, who may represent Christ's apostles. Clay pots from France or Belgium, containing residue of an unknown liquid, were also found.

Remember the Bible passage about women should be "silent" in church? The following is from 1 Corinthians 14

34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.

Or how they left out women who also had the gift of prophecy?

14 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

Yet also in 1 Corinthians 14, there was this.

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.

The truth is, there were many women with Jesus and thought history, as the ancient woman above, that were leaders in Christianity. Never, ever, doubt the gifts of your spirit are of any lesser value just because some think it is. 

Canadian veteran's best therapist has four legs, and really big ears!

A friend named Bert: A Canadian veteran living with PTSD finds hope in a donkey

CTV News Canada
Joel Haslam
CTV News Ottawa Multi-Skilled Journalist
December 27, 2022

Karen is living with PTSD. She is a veteran of the Canadian Forces, doing her best to live with a painful past.

Karen Stacey, a Canadian Forces veteran living with PTSD, enjoys a gentle stroll with her friend Bert (Joel Haslam/CTV Ottawa)

Karen Stacey swings wide a creaky, stainless steel gate, announcing her arrival.

“Good morning, Bert. Are you still sleeping?”

She’s come to see a friend; a soulmate of sorts, who’s changed her life.

“Hi, buddy,” she says with a smile.

Bert turns his head toward her, clearly recognizing his visitor.

His ears point to the sky.

“Hello, handsome,” Karen whispers.

She locks her arms around his neck and gives him a gentle peck between the eyes.

“He’s a blessing. I couldn’t have asked for a better success story than to have a donkey as my best friend.”

Karen and Bert’s friendship began at the Women Warriors Healing Garden in Blackburn Hamlet.

“It still hurts. So, finding this place and being able to let everything go is fantastic. This is 52 acres of freedom that I can wander as I want. No judgment, no stress, no pain. Just a lot of love,” she says.

Co-founded by an American military veteran, Erin Kinsey, and an Ottawa psychotherapist, Elaine Waddington Lamont, the garden is a place for veterans to heal.
read more here