Practicing What I Preach, Part 3

What is PTSD?  Post-traumatic stress disorder was called “soldier’s heart” after the Civil War.  It was called “shell shocked” after World War I and “battle fatigue” after World War II.  After the Vietnam War, it was further sanitized to “post traumatic stress disorder.”  Complex PTSD  (C-PTSD) is diagnosed after a person has experienced multiple life-threatening traumas.

Approximately 160 million people have PTSD.

• Journey to Joy: Mastering the Art of Controlling My Destiny
  • Journey to Joy (Day 2): Smile with Your Liver
  • Journey to Joy (Day 3): What Do You Really, Really, Really Want?
• Malignant NarcIssIsts, Wizards, and the Illusions that Mess Up Our Lives

RitaAnita Linger

 25 Great Ways to Combat Stress and Recover from PTSD Episodes

RitaAnita Linger generously shared 25 great techniques for reducing stress that she and her fellow Heartmath providers put together during a retreat.

• 30 Days to Less Stress
• 30 Days to Less Stress: Day 2
• Stress + Fear = Cortisol: Why Stressed Out People Gain Weight
• 30 Days to Less Stress: Day 3
• 30 Days to Less Stress: Day 4

Windmills of Our Minds: Faith or Fear?

Instinctively, we react to threats to our safety with a fight or flight response.  It ramps up our adrenaline and sends us into a temporary high.

It can, at times, help us to literally move mountains to remove ourselves and those we love from peril.

For those of us who have experienced abuse, it can also ruin our health.  We can end up with health concerns like complex PTSD (C-PTSD), auto-immune disorders, and cardio-vascular problems.

Alice Miller: Breaking Down the Wall of Silence

Painting by Alice Miller

Alice Miller was born in 1923. She received her PhD from the University of Basle and worked as a psychotherapist in Zurich, Switzerland for 20 years. Since 1980, she has been the intellectual warrior leader for abused children around the world.

Her initial motivation was to understand Adolph Hitler. She believes there is a direct link between child abuse/domestic violence and world peace. To this end, enlightened/helping witnesses are the key.

 

Book Review: SOLDIER’S HEART: Close-up Today with PTSD in Vietnam Veterans by William Schroder and Ronald Dawe 

“Soldier’s Heart” was coined after the Civil War to describe what is now diagnosed as post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.  The authors of Soldier’s Heart are Vietnam veterans who suffer from PTSD.  William Schroder is a writer, and Dr. Ronald Dawe is a psychologist who specializes in the connection between PTSD and substance abuse.  They decided to talk to other veterans with PTSD in order to try to better understand their own symptoms and experiences.

Soldier’s Heart:  Close-up Today with PTSD in Vietnam Veterans was recommended to me at the Field’s End Writers’ Conference.  I decided to read it because viable treatment protocols for PTSD will most likely arise from the military.  The book is expensive:  $49.95.  I was lucky our library system had a copy.

If you are a veteran or are concerned about a veteran with PTSD, the soldiers’ stories will give you a candid glimpse into life in a combat zone.  Dr. Dawe inserted diagnostic explanations into each soldier’s story.  I will be focusing this review on what I learned about PTSD.   Read more. . .