Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
“It was so embarrassing. I looked up and everyone was looking at me like I was a freak; then I got mad. They didn’t understand what a helicopter flying so low does to me. When I was in Iraq, it meant somebody was about to die.”
“I still double-check to make sure my bedroom door is locked when I sleep and that the bathroom door is locked when I shower. My husband tries to assure me I’m safe; but, the nightmares tell me my [perpetrator] could come in at any time and rape me.”
“Can you imagine how humiliated I feel. Usually when you hear about domestic violence the man is always the one hitting; but, when I get near some one that has physical features like my ex-wife, I have a panic attack. She used to hit me with pots and pans and hammers. I couldn’t hit back because a man doesn’t do that. So, I left. But, I still have nightmares.”
“I can’t go near any store of that name; much less my work place. I panic and can’t breathe.”
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a real illness.
You can get PTSD after living through or seeing a traumatic event, such as war, a hurricane, rape, physical abuse, or a bad accident.
PTSD makes you feel stressed and afraid after the danger is over.
It affects your life and the people around you.
PTSD can cause problems like flashbacks, or feeling like the event is happening again, trouble sleeping or nightmares, feeling alone, angry outbursts, feeling worried, guilty or sad.
PTSD starts at various times for different people.
Signs of PTSD may start soon after a frightening event and then continue. Other people develop new or more severe signs months or even years later.
PTSD can happen to anyone, even children.
At A Healing Journey we use a mixture of various forms of treatment ranging from narrative therapy to cognitive behavior therapy.
Treatment may be done completely individually or a combination of individual and group therapy. We find that group therapy is particularly helpful because it gives individuals a sense of safety and of not being alone in their struggles.
Let us help keep the past where it belongs.
*The quotes are a composite of actual disclosures and are not attributable to a client.