Post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) is usually associated with soldiers who have lived through combat.
But the truth is PTSD can affect people after any traumatic event: rape, chronic disease, abuse, car accidents, even hurricanes. Approximately 13 million American adults suffer from PTSD.
So what can you do to help your chances of recovery after a PTSD diagnosis?
Get Educated:
Being an informed patient will help you maintain focus on your long term goals throughout recovery. Knowledge is empowering and can improve both recognition of symptoms and their management. Most PTSD survivors make a full recovery.
Invest in a Good Magnesium Supplement
Squash hypervigilance and insomnia. Two common PTSD symptoms, hypervigilance and insomnia are often signs that you are constantly on guard and find it hard to relax. This can lead to self-medication with alcohol. Not helpful.
Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant that can help you increase your quality of sleep while decreasing muscle tension and anxiety.
Take Up a Meditative Practice
Sharpen your focus of the here and now of each breath and reduce anxiety in PTSD by doing meditative and breathing exercises like yoga, t’ai chi or qigong.
Seek PTSD Treatment from a Professional
Learn how to live fully in the present and lay past traumas to rest by going to group therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, or an Energy Healer.
This will help you increase your chances of recovery, minimize relapse possibilities, and re-learn how to connect with others.
Eat the Right Foods
Eat healthy foods that help lower cortisol levels in your body… and that promote cognitive balance: vegetables, wholegrain foods, fish are all great choices.
Cortisol is a hormone released by the body in response to stress, but PTSD sufferers faced with stressful situations release more cortisol than their healthy counterparts and this can lead to symptoms like insomnia, palpitations and increased anxiety.
You are the only one who can truly change your situation.
But it’s a lot rougher if you try to do it alone.
References:
Bremner, J.D. (2003). Cortisol response to a cognitive stress challenge in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 28, 733-750
Grodin, M.A. (2008). Treating survivors of torture and refugee trauma:a preliminary case series using qigong and t’ai chi. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 14 (7), 801-806
Photo credit: Photo Credit: Dr.S.Ali Wasif via Compfight cc
Thank You for this post Sherri. I suffer from PTSD and I worked my way through it by myself… Not good. I definitely see that as I am emerging on the other side of it and I should have gotten more help. I had a therapist at the beginning but then became depressed and couldn’t be bothered.
I love your site
Joan
For so long PTSD just wasn’t recognized. The best they had was “shell shock” for traumatized soldiers.
At least now it’s becoming more and more obvious that as horrible as war is, there are many more people that suffer from emotional trauma and also need help.
Please feel welcome to take advantage of the Free Session offer at the top of the page. Things might get even better….