LIVING WITH POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can develop after someone undergoes a traumatic or frightening experience.
If you have PTSD, you can feel like you are always reliving the incident, or the emotions attached to it, even though it's in the past.
Some people with PTSD find themselves always trying to avoid reminders of the incident, whether that's a particular place (like a certain bus stop) or any place that seems similar (all bus stops, or maybe even all buses).
It's common for people with PTSD to find themselves feeling very anxious, struggling with nightmares or even having flashbacks.
All these emotional symptoms can trigger physical symptoms, like sweating, high heart rate, high blood pressure and even physical pain.
People with PTSD often feel lonely and misunderstood, because friends and family will try to help by pointing out that the threat has gone, but this doesn't seem to make any difference. Often people with PTSD feel they cannot talk about their problems and suffer in silence instead.
UNDERSTANDING PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder isn't properly understood yet. It's been identified in people who have fought in wars - but also people who have been in very minor car crashes, and science doesn't really understand why some people develop the condition and others don't.
Some therapists feel that the name PTSD is unhelpful.
They argue that the emotional and physical responses the person has are not "disordered" but instead, a very legitimate response to a thread. Others say that using the term "Post Traumatic" suggests that the trauma has "gone", whereas actually, for the person struggling, it is still ongoing.
There is also a condition called Complex PTSD, or cPTSD. This is generally where someone has the symptoms of PTSD but there is not one single cause, or the presentation of the symptoms are more complicated.
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While the discussions about what to call PTSD and how to describe it are valid and interesting on an intellectual level, for many people who have PTSD, it is not nearly as important as trying to find a way to recover and move on.
HOW MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TREAT PTSD
In much of the UK (your location may vary) a formal diagnosis of PTSD or cPTSD can only be made by a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist.
The main medical treatment through the NHS in the UK for PTSD is anti-depressants. Other medical therapies such as MDMA or psilocybin are being trialled in other countries but these are not available in the UK yet.
These can help mask the symptoms but do little about the cause of the PTSD. And for some people, the anti-depressants carry unwanted side effects.
In some areas, talking therapy like CBT is available, or even seeing a psychologist through the NHS, but these often have a long waiting list.
I believe that your reaction to what happened isn't a "disorder". You felt in danger, and your mind acted to protect you. This isn't "wrong".
What's "wrong" is that your mind hasn't been able to move on from the danger and realise that you are safe now.
Using advanced hypnotherapy techniques, I can help your powerful mind realise that you are safe now, and can move forward with your life.
I appreciate that there are lots of therapists to choose from, and that it can seem very difficult to know to trust with your emotional health.
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As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, I'm trained in a wide range of techniques to help your mind realise that you can move forward now.
I believe all my clients are unique, so deserve the best, personalised help. I specialise in treating you, not the label your issue has been given!
Maybe we'll use classic hypnotherapy techniques, where you'll be guided in a deep state of relaxation so that you can let go of your trauma.
Or maybe we'll use eye movement based techniques to encourage a state of emotional change.
Perhaps we'll use provocative questioning to help you break down your trauma so that it simply no longer affects you.
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If you choose to come and see me for PTSD or cPTSD, you are free to book however many sessions you like, but I recommend at least two sessions for maximum benefit.