Trauma/PTSD Recovery
Trauma. It’s an overused word.
Not everything can be explained away as trauma. But trauma IS undeniably real, and you may be suffering from the real thing.
Three different stories. The same culprit.
“Is this trauma?”
“I’m a nurse in a hospital emergency department. Day in and day out I see some awful things. And I’m fine. Until now. The other night, they brought in a four-year-old boy. His dad accidentally backed over him with the car.”
“That was the last straw for me. The boy’s eyes haunt me. All day and night I hear his mom sobbing. I can’t sleep. I have nightmares and wake up in a cold sweat.”It’s affecting all areas of my life. I am filled with dread at going back to work. I’m constantly distracted and can’t focus. When not at work, I avoid young families with kids, because I instantly cry. I can’t even watch TV anymore without being reminded of this boy. I can’t even enjoy the holidays because I think about what this family must be going through.”
“Could I be a victim of trauma?”
“I live in Nashville, TN. You know, Music City! Bands, BBQ, and Broadway! I thought I’d made it. I’d arrived. Recently, though, I felt stuck. My songs are starting to sound old and worn out, and my voice range has shrunk. I’m flat half the time now. My creativity is completely blocked. I don’t know what happened.
“What I DO know is that I don’t want to get stuck having to go back home. Back to where my parents abused each other and abused me. I mean, there were times … but we won’t go there. And I’ll never go back.”
Did trauma cause this?
“Suck it up!” It’s an unwritten rule. But a very understood rule. I’m a First Responder. I see, hear, and smell things that would bother most people. Sometimes several times a day. But I keep going, just like everyone else here does. It’s all part of the job.”
“That’s not what bothers me, though. Other areas of my life are falling apart. I’m anxious all the time. I leave work and go home to a tense marriage and an annoying family. The screaming and arguing drive me crazy.”
“All I want is to be left alone. So, I leave home and spend the rest of my time off at the bar. Then back to work, where it’s getting harder and harder to focus. As the cycle repeats itself, I’m home less and less and at work more and more.”
The answer to all three is YES!
Trauma comes in all shapes and sizes. Its sufferers are just as varied. And the effects of trauma are as varied as the stories above.
- A single catastrophic event, such as a car accident or an assault could cause it.
- It can result from a lifetime of abuse.
- The death of a loved one can also have profound trauma, affecting the mind and body.
- Sometimes the events are layered, where one event after another happens, before the previous one has been processed. This is the case with professions such as First Response.
Is this you? Could you have PTSD?
If the incident was serious enough, layered, or left untreated, it can become PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, affecting mind, body, and spirit. Emotions are intense, often followed by physical symptoms or chronic pain. Until treated, it will continue to rear its ugly head. There seems to be no escape. This is only part of what can happen:
- Internally, symptoms such as nightmares, anxiety or panic attacks, hypervigilance, flashbacks, and sleeplessness take over. Reliving the incident or incidents is constant.
- Emotionally, anxiety alternates with depression. Overwhelm, fear, and confusion take over. You can’t figure out why this is happening to you.
- Physically, symptoms such as digestive issues or chronic pain emerge, with no medical basis.
- On the family front, marriage begins to disintegrate, patience with family members is down to almost zero. You just want to be left alone.
- Social life either becomes nonexistent or is used as a crutch to escape your feelings.
- At work, lack of concentration and focus takes over. You don’t even want to be there. You avoid people and places that remind you of what happened.
Good News! It’s treatable.
Trauma is an injury. And injuries heal. In fact, I prefer to replace the word “disorder” (from PTSD) with the word “injury.”
An injury is the result of an unfortunate occurrence. In this case, injury is to both mind and body. The mind reacts with emotion, and then the body reacts, such as when we get butterflies in our stomach in reaction to anxiety.
Fortunately, effective mind-body therapy, such as Brainspotting or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), goes beyond simply soothing feelings with words, but leads to deeper healing by going into the part of the brain where trauma is stored, healing both the mind and the body. These interventions use our eyes to reach the trauma.
The part of the brain we use for talking does not connect directly to the part of the brain where our trauma is stored. However, recent studies in neuroscience have shown that the retina (the nerve from our eyes) reaches into the part of the brain where we experience trauma, giving us direct access.
Thoroughly trained to help you…
I am certified in Brainspotting, which uses the position of our eyes to access the point in the brain where the trauma is held (see Brainspotting page on this website). It’s only when trauma is accessed through an eye position that it can be processed and healed. I am also trained in EMDR, which similarly uses eye movement to stimulate both sides of the brain, allowing for deep healing.
Neither can undo the fact that the incident occurred. But both interventions reach in and decrease the intensity of your mind’s and your body’s reaction to the memory of the incident.
Yes, the incident happened. Nobody can erase history. But following treatment, looking at what happened is more like looking at a scar. There’s evidence that something happened. Yet you can go on with life and function normally again.
The end of the story:
“Is this trauma?”
This nurse reached out for help from a trauma therapist. Following several weeks of therapy, she was able to sleep soundly again. She returned to work and was able to focus on helping others again, even kids and young families.
“Could I be a victim of trauma?”
This creative individual sought therapy from a Brainspotting therapist. He was able to process his childhood hurts, which had been blocking his creativity. After he faced his trauma, he expanded his ability to write music again, and his voice became stronger than ever.
Did trauma cause this?
This First Responder recognized there is no shame in asking for help. Through Brainspotting and EMDR, he experienced a way of processing without talking about it. Once he processed some of what he had seen on the job, together with some childhood incidents, he could function in the line of public safety even more effectively than ever before. His relationships improved because he realized that the real problem was not a person. It was trauma. His life became balanced again, and he lived a fulfilled life, both at home and at work.
Reach out for help.
You don’t have to wait. Get therapy and heal. There is help for you.
Wipe out trauma and rediscover yourself.
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