Living Life with PTSD

PTSD can leave you feeling damaged and broken. Those with PTSD often experience symptoms far beyond the actual occurrence that may have caused PTSD. Living with something like PTSD can literally make life unbearable.

PTSD, or posttraumatic stress disorder – once known as shell shock or battle shock, is a very serious condition that can develop after someone has experienced or even witnessed a traumatic or terrifying event like a war or a tragedy of some kind. PTSD can cause intense fear, a feeling of helplessness and even horror. Those with PTSD may be overly sensitive to noise or crowds, experience intense guilt, have issues with anger or even sexual functioning issues amongst many other things.

The goal of PTSD treatment is to reduce both the physical and emotional symptoms someone may experience so they can function at a higher level and cope better with life.

Symptoms of PTSD are often grouped into four categories:

1. Reliving
2. Avoiding
3. Increased Arousal
4. Negative Cognitions or Moods

The first category, reliving, occurs when someone repeatedly relives the event again and again in their mind, which can be traumatic. Avoiding occurs when someone intentionally avoids people, places or situations that remind him or her of the past trauma. Increased arousal involves someone having outbursts of anger, being startled frequently or even difficulty showing emotion. Negative cognitions or moods involve thoughts or feelings related to blame or memories of the traumatic event. All of these symptoms are very serious, and they can lead to heart palpitations and increased blood pressure and other physical symptoms.

One way to move through a difficult process is to accept it and acknowledge it. Once you accept that you have these powerful emotions you can begin to move through them. Another way to deal with PTSD is to try and reframe how you view past traumatic events or to desensitize how you feel about those traumatic events.

Feelings are actually a whole body experience…..and one that involves the limbic system and the autonomic nervous system. Feelings can give you energy or deprive you of energy and suppressing feelings and holding them in can keep someone from living their best life.

Confronting those fears – and releasing the emotional energy that has built up around them can be life changing. This kind of exposure therapy can help you realize that you are not your feelings and it can help you realize that you acted in the only manner possible at the time. Forgiving yourself and letting go of the pain and anger and the agony and giving yourself that mental hug can help you move beyond PTSD, once and for all.

Acknowledging these powerful emotions and accepting them for what they are is a very powerful process and one that can be accomplished through something like hypnotherapy, meditation or even professional counseling.

If you are living with PTSD, get relief today with our PTSD Treatment Hypnosis Session!