PTSD Questions & Answers
What is PTSD? It is a collection
of specific acute or chronic symptoms that occur following an event involving
the threat of death or serious injury, to oneself or others and causes a traumatic
sense of fear, helplessness, terror, or horror. It frequently results
in anxiety or panic attacks. It is a specific
diagnosis outlined in Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders - DSM-IV, published
by the American Psychiatric Association.
How is PTSD diagnosed? There are several standardized test available
to practitioners that have been statistically validated.
What
are the most common symptoms?
• Recurrent, intrusive, and disturbing memories, images, and thoughts.
• Frequent nightmares and/or insomnia.
• Emotional numbing
• Hyper-arousal (irritability, vigilance) flashbacks and emotions.
• Situational and anniversary reminders can aggravate the symptoms.
• Physical reactions such as breathless, racing-heart, and cold sweats are also common.
These symptoms can
c ause physiological, psychological, and/or
emotional dis-stress. PTSD can contribute to alcohol &/or drug abuse,
suicide, and early death from cardiovascular
diseases and cancer.
Can
PTSD actually be cured? Conventional
talk - therapy practitioners never use ‘cure', because they so seldom achieve
complete relief. In fact, they [as evidenced by their licensing and professional
boards] feel that simply using the word ‘cure' borders
on unethical behavior and charlatanism. However, what else should we call
it when the problem goes away and doesn't come back? It is quite possible
when effective mind/body techniques are used. (But I do not use the word,
nor claim to ever cure anyone! I just help them get total relief.)
How
many sessions does it take? Typically a
specific traumatic event can be completely resolved in one or two sessions.
By working with the most intense and invasive memory first, many times there
is a generalizing effect. That frequently allows related issues to be resolved
without specific attention to them. Following one or two sessions, a client
will have the knowledge and ability to eliminate many issues by themselves.