combatptsd
05-15-08, 05:29 AM
Memory and trauma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=b60dda6e015efe05&clickedItemRank=1&userQuery=ptsd+causes+short+term+memory+loss&clickedItemDest=2219376600462326780023500561437318 92458&clickedItemMark=1210846527698&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwik i%2FMemory_and_trauma&title=%3Cb%3EMemory%3C%2Fb%3E+and+trauma+-+Wikipedia%2C+the+free+encyclopedia&moduleId=matchingsites.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=1&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults) As mentioned above, the stress of PTSD can have severe effects on the hippocampus, causing problems with transferring short term to long term memory. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_trauma
Behavior: The Invisible Epidemic - Post-Traumatic Stress Dis... (http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=b60dda6e015efe05&clickedItemRank=4&userQuery=ptsd+causes+short+term+memory+loss&clickedItemDest=1136330350257819900160955658508602 93520&clickedItemMark=1210846527699&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorwillseeyo unow.com%2Farticles%2Fbehavior%2Fptsd_4%2F&title=Behavior%3A+The+Invisible+Epidemic+-+Post-Traumatic+Stress+Disorder+%3Cb%3E...%3C%2Fb%3E&moduleId=matchingsites.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=4&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults)
PTSD also causes problems with non-declarative memory (subconscious or motor ... in the PTSD patients was associated with short-term memory loss.22 Similar ...
www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/behavior
treatment for memory loss in ptsd (http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=b60dda6e015efe05&clickedItemRank=5&userQuery=ptsd+causes+short+term+memory+loss&clickedItemDest=1859489162543136304513756263401923 63377&clickedItemMark=1210846527699&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fpza.akeaartest.isabell durston.com%2Ftreatment_for_memory_loss_in_ptsd.ht ml&title=treatment+for+%3Cb%3Ememory+loss%3C%2Fb%3E+i n+%3Cb%3Eptsd%3C%2Fb%3E&moduleId=matchingsites.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=5&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults) Could Cerebral Malaria cause 'brain seizures' 5 yrs later - Mental . ... term memory loss; ptsd memory loss; loss memory short ssi term; prozac memory loss; ...
pza.akeaartest.isabelldurston.com/treatment_for_memory_los
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome: ptsd-vietnam-memory loss (http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=b60dda6e015efe05&clickedItemRank=6&userQuery=ptsd+causes+short+term+memory+loss&clickedItemDest=2471923196083960142876806144301705 29685&clickedItemMark=1210846527699&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fen.allexperts.com%2Fq% 2FPost-Traumatic-Stress-1335%2Fptsd-vietnam-memory-loss-1.htm&title=Post-Traumatic+Stress+Syndrome%3A+%3Cb%3Eptsd%3C%2Fb%3E-vietnam-%3Cb%3Ememory+loss%3C%2Fb%3E&moduleId=matchingsites.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=6&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults) Apr 3, 2007 ... They say he has ptsd and hearing loss and compensate 60% but the ptsd ... Concentration is required to move a memory from short term to long ...
en.allexperts.com/q/Post-Traumatic-Stress-1335/p
THE BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE TO PSYCHIC TRAUMA: MECHANISMS AND TREATMENT OF INTRUSION AND NUMBING BESSEL A. VAN DER KOLK and JOSE SAPORTA
Harvard Medical School
(Received 23 December 1991)
The recognition that trauma is qualitatively different from stress and results in lasting biological emergency responses following traumatic experiences may account for the biphasic trauma response, and the accompanying memory disturbances. The advances in our understanding of the underlying biology of this "physioneurosis". In addition to classically conditioned physiological reactions, changes now have been demonstrated in startle response in people with post-traumatic stress disorder and in central nervous system catecholamine, serotonin, and endogenous opioid systems. This paper reviews the research data which have demonstrated changes in these systems and explores how these biological changes may be related to the characteristic hyper-reactivity, loss of neuromodulation, numbing of responsiveness, dissociative states, and memory disturbances seen in PTSD. There is growing evidence that trauma has different biological effects at different stages of primate human, development. This article relates these findings to the studies which have demonstrated clear linkages between childhood trauma, and a variety of psychiatric disorders, including borderline personality disorder, and a range of self-destructive behaviors.
"The apparent similarities between some aspects of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE), PTSD and some long term sequelae of childhood trauma continues to challenge us to further explore the effects of trauma on the limbic system. During this past decade, the relationships between environmental trauma and the organization and function of the limbic system are slowly beginning to be understood, in part because of the work on non-human primates, which has conclusively shown that disruption of early attachment directly affects the maturation of the limbic system (Kling & Steklis, 1976). The limbic system also is the primary area of the CNS where memories are processed, and the most likely place to find an explanation for the memory disturbances which follow trauma."
http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/vanderkolk2/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/vanderkolk2/)
Two articles I wrote up to share with the wounded warriors at our horses for heroes day today.
PTSD in a nut shell
The most important thing anyone needs to know about ptsd is that it's a NORMAL reaction to trauma. NORMAL, remember that! And yet, some genius categorized ptsd as a MENTAL disorder/illness? Is it any wonder that trauma survivors aren't proudly jumping and up and down in the streets screaming "I'm NORMAL, I'm NORMAL?" The stigma of ptsd being a mental disorder not only does a lot of harm to survivors, it's also incorrect information. Completely false, remember that too. Trauma and ptsd is an epidemic in our society. PTSD is often misdiagnosed, and mistreated. PTSD is so misunderstood, millions of people go their entire lifetime, and don't even know they have it.
Years ago, they believed soldiers heart/shell shock, railway spine,etc., was a physical injury. Then Freud, and others like him, convinced people it was a psychological injury. I think they were right the first time.
Most of the literature you will find on the subject is written by people in the "mental health profession" who have garnered their understanding of PTSD from a book. The best form of learning is through real, life, experience.
Scientists are still wasting a lot of time and money trying to discover what causes PTSD, and how to prevent it. I can save a lot of time and money by telling you, trauma causes PTSD. It's impossible to prevent a NORMAL reaction to trauma, unless of course the trauma was prevented from occurring in the first place.
The DVSM 3 R reads: The person has experienced an event that is outside the range of usual human experience and that would be markedly distressing to anyone, serious threat to ones life or physical integrity, serious threat or harm to ones children, spouse, or other close relatives and friends, sudden destruction of ones home or community, or seeing another person who has recently been, or is being seriously injured or killed as the result of an accident or physical violence"
The essential feature of this disorder is the development of characteristic symptoms following a psychologically distressing event that is outside the range of unusual human experience. The stressor producing this syndrome would be markedly stressing to almost anyone, and is usually experienced with intense fear, terror and helplessness. The characteristic symptoms involve reexperiencing the traumatic event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event or numbing of general responsiveness, and increased arousal. The diagnosis is not made in the disturbance lasts less than one month. The most common traumata involve either a serious threat to one's life or physical integrity; a serious threat or harm to one's children, spouse, or other close relatives and friends; sudden destruction of one's home or community; or seeing another person who has been, or is being, seriously injured or killed as the result of physical violence. In some cases the trauma may be learning about a serious threat or harm to a close friend or relative, e. g., that one's child has been kidnapped, tortured, or killed. The trauma may be experienced alone (e. g., rape or assault) or in the company of groups of people (e. g., military combat). Stressor producing the disorder include natural disasters (e. g., floods, earthquakes) accidental disasters (e. g., car accidents with serious physical injury, airplane crashes, large fires, collapse of physical structures), or deliberately caused disasters (e. g. bombing, torture, death camps). Sometimes there is a concomitant physical component of the trauma, which may even involve direct damage to the central nervous system (e.g., malnutrition, head injury). The disorder is apparently more severe and longer lasting when the stressor is of human design. The specific stressor and its severity should be recorded on Axis IV (p. 18).
http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/ptsd/ (http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/ptsd/)
That means not only is war a traumatic stressor, but so is deployment for the loved ones left behind. Coping with chronic illness, like PTSD, or even cancer or Alzheimer's disease, is another traumatic stressor. Chronic illness threatens the physical integrity of those we love. Fighting the VA system is also traumatic, as is losing your home, or family after sustaining an injury in the war. It's important to know how to identify a trauma, and to tally up the factors that lead to the development of PTSD. More often than not, ptsd is misdiagnosed as BI polar disorder or schizophrenia. More often than not, the mental health professionals fails to assess for trauma.
This excerpt will explain the risk and resiliency factors that play a pivotal role in the development of PTSD
Quoted from Recovering from the war, by Patience Mason.
"Many people develop some of the characteristics of PTSD without ever having the diagnosable disorder: Traumatic events have serious, long term effects on all people who survive them. They range from moderate to severe, depending on a number of factors: the actual traumatic incidents, the severity and duration of the stress factors, how the person sees the events in relation to him/herself, the ability of the survivor to find someone to talk to about the events, the reaction of other people to what the survivor tells them, and luck. When the actual traumatic incident involved mutilation and death,(invalidation is likened to soul murder) when they lasted for a years tour, when the person feels angry, or used, or betrayed or helpless or as though he's (she's) an animal, when he/she can't find anyone to talk to about what happened, when she/he's ridiculed, insulted, or ignored by society, and when his/her luck- in finding or holding on a job, another person to love, a safe place in society fails, he/she may develop a cluster of symptoms that we now call PTSD. It is a normal reaction. Normal! Remember that. A veteran (or his wife, and or children) may also develop only a few of these symptoms, never have official PTSD, and yet be hard to live with."
In addition to partial Vs full blown PTSD, it also comes in different forms like mild, moderate, or severe. Since PTSD is a stress disorder, ANY stress, even good stress, contributes to the symptoms. Understanding PTSD is as basic as understanding biology. Everyone has a fight or flight response, and it comes out in us, or we die. This normal fight or flight response ensures our survival.
Everyone also has an optimal stress level. When that optimal level is overwhelmed by either chronic long term stress, or a single traumatic stressor, a real, physical injury to the autonomic nervous system occurs.
optimum arousal zone of the Modulation Model
http://www.sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/articles.html (http://www.sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/articles.html)
This is where I believe ptsd occurs, when a person is past that point of no return. This is where the risk and resiliency factors of ptsd come into play as well. It's what I call "adding insult to injury", until the system of self preservation is so overwhelmed, a permanent injury to the autonomic nervous systems fight or flight response occurs.
Research shows that people with PTSD have a "broken" response to fear. Some researches and "mental health professionals" (I use that term loosely, LOL) are now saying that autonomic nervous system arousal is at the core of PTSD. It is my contention that autonomic nervous system arousal IS PTSD, in a nut shell.
If you take another look at the risk and resiliency factors of PTSD, feeling angry, used, and/or betrayed, helpless, like an animal in a cage, etc., they clearly contribute to autonomic nervous system arousal as well.
Try feeling angry or used, or betrayed, without your heart rate accelerating, without the fight or flight response being activated.
The risk and resiliency factors contribute to ANS arousal, because it's not safe in that world. When soldiers are in the heat of combat, the ANS is activated, and the symptoms they experience are not mental ones. Physically, our bodies prepare to fight, or flee. Everyone has a breaking point, and it's different for everyone.
The number one predictor of recovery from trauma is an intact, social support system. Social support during a time of crisis is also a powerful buffer against the development of ptsd. (social support, hopefully, has a calming affect on the autonomic nervous system, which can prevent the fight or flight system from being so overwhelmed, a stress injury occurs). Not having anyone to talk to about the trauma, or not having anyone to understand contributes to Autonomic nervous system arousal as well.
Secondary wounding experiences occur when other people don't understand the normal affects of trauma, when they attempt to deny, minimize, or discount the survivors suffering. Secondary wounding experiences can feel MORE painful than the original trauma, especially if they stem from human neglect or cruelty.
So, we now understand that PTSD is a NORMAL reaction to overwhelming stress/trauma. And that PTSD is an actual physical injury to the autonomic nervous systems fight or flight response. People with PTSD will be looking for danger from now on, whether other people think it's reasonable or not. PTSD is NOT a MENTAL disorder!
The hallmark symptom of PTSD is the ability to go from fine, to a killing rage, in the blink of an eye. Under stress, FIGHT, or Flight. (or freeze, our brains choose which system of survival to use for us, based on pervious life experience. Soldiers were trained by the military to always choose to fight.) An associated symptom of PTSD is the inability to regulate emotions. Understanding what happens to the human body under stress will give you a good explanation for the symptoms of PTSD.
PTSD also seems to follow a similar course as the five stages of grief. The first stage being denial. What I went through wasn't that bad, I wasn't affected. Then the bargaining stage, if something else in my life would only get better, I wouldn't have these problems, which is BS.
( what you survived would be markedly distressing to anyone. You are experiencing normal reactions to stress/trauma) Then comes the angry stage of grief, some people get stuck in this stage, which contributes to the autonomic nervous system arousal of PTSD. Depression, which is a normal consequence of trauma as well. Finally, the acceptance stage sets in. These stages are recycled, over and over again during further stress/trauma as well.
The symptoms of ptsd all serve a valuable purpose in the healing process. When a person sustains a real physical injury, numbness sets in as a means of surviving that real physical pain. It's normal for people with ptsd to go numb to survive an emotional injury. This numbness, protects a survivor from the things they are not yet able to face.
There are more physical injuries caused by trauma. Like depleted cortisol levels. Trauma survivors have such high levels of cortisol during and immediately after the trauma, the system gets physically injured. Then with low levels of circulating cortisol, it's harder for trauma survivors to calm down once they get upset. Depleted cortisol levels are a physical injury from trauma, not a mental one. Trauma survivors also sustain an injury to the opiate system. When a person sustains a physical injury, opiate receptors are activated, and the person goes numb, just to survive. The same thing happens during/after a psychic/emotional injury. Trauma survivors blood streams are similar to drug addicts, they have high levels of opiates circulating in their system. Just like cortisol levels, after a while, these opiate receptors are burnt out, another physical injury from trauma.
It's also normal to think about, and to remember bad things that happen to us. This alone is not the cause or the source of PTSD. Thinking about a trauma doesn't cause PTSD. If that were the case, every American, every human being on earth for that matter, would be suffering from PTSD.
People with ptsd tend to feel weird, defective, or crazy because they can't stop thinking about/reliving the trauma. Traumatic things happen so fast, they don't have enough time to be encoded into narrative memory, so they present themselves as symptoms of a dis-ease.
Lets take a look at the symptoms of ptsd.The symptoms of ptsd are far-reaching, intrusive, terrifying and almost impossible for non-sufferer to comprehend:
*difficulty falling or staying asleep, (a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS/autonomic nervous system arousal?)
*irritability and angry outbursts, (a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS arousal?)
*difficulty concentrating, (a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS arousal?)
*recurring nightmares, (a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS arousal?)
*hallucinations and flashbacks ‘reliving the experience’ in waking hours,(a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS arousal?)
*exaggerated startle response (jumping and hitting out at the slightest thing),
(a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS arousal)?
*Hyper-vigilance (checking two or three times that things are as they appear to be, not trusting what you see), (a psychological reaction, or evidence of ANS arousal)? *Physiological reaction to a reminder of the trauma (at the sound of a car backfiring, hitting the floor like a reflex).
The author made a mistake here. This is actually an example of an exaggerated startle response, not a psychological reminder of the trauma. (These last set of symptoms are examples of survivor guilt, and depression, which is a normal part of PTSD.) *Suffers often do not expect to live long lives, or to have successful careers or marriages, they lose interest in things that they previously enjoyed, and make massive efforts to avoid anything that arouses memories of the traumatic circumstances.
In my experience, there is no avoiding traumatic memories, and the literature often fails to provide evidence of how a survivor with PTSD avoids memories of the traumatic experience. They do however site examples of avoiding people and places that remind victims of the trauma. In my experience, the ANS arousal, and symptoms of (social) anxiety that are a NORMAL part of ptsd, is the explanation for the avoidance.
Let me explain something. When a person with an autonomic nervous system stress injury is under stress, it's NORMAL to remember the last time you were in THAT much danger, so you know how to react to survive it.
Bessel Van Der Kolk, one of the original doctors who wrote the definition of PTSD explains the memory retrieval well in this article about sensimotor therapy:
"Hyperarousal involves "excessive sympathetic branch activity [which] can lead to increased energy-consuming processes, manifested as increases in heart rate and respiration and as a "pounding" sensation in the head" (Siegel, 1999, p. 254). Over the long term, such hyperarousal may disrupt cognitive and affective processing as the individual becomes overwhelmed and disorganized by the accelerated pace and amplitude of thoughts and emotions, which may be accompanied by intrusive memories. As Van der Kolk, Van der Hart, et al. (1996) state, "This hyperarousal creates a vicious cycle: state-dependent memory retrieval causes increased access to traumatic memories and involuntary intrusions of the trauma, which lead in turn to even more arousal" (Van der Kolk, Van der Hart, et al., 1996, p. 305). Such state-dependent memories may increase clients' tendency to "interpret current stimuli as reminders of the trauma" (p. 305), perpetuating the pattern of hyperarousal. Van der Kolk points out that high arousal is easily triggered in traumatized persons, causing them to " ... be unable to trust their bodily sensations to warn them against impending threat, and cease to alert them to take appropriate action" (p. 421), thereby disrupting effective defensive responses.
read the rest at
http://www.sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/articles.html (http://www.sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/articles.html)
In my experience, talking about the traumatic experience is merely therapeutic. It helps to find a sense of meaning and purpose to the trauma. Please be aware, talking about, or even reading about trauma, can be a trigger, a reminder of the original trauma, which comes with the same explosive, emotional charge. Some things are so traumatic, they don't make sense to the human brain. Rationalizing the trauma will not heal an autonomic nervous system dis-order. The autonomic nervous system does not listen to reason or logic. The symptoms of post traumatic stress dis-order are actually very sensible, and orderly. Even though they can also make your life feel as if it's out of order. The symptoms of PTSD serve a sensible and orderly purpose in the healing process. It's important for trauma survivors to listen to those symptoms and to do the footwork to discover what they are trying to tell them. Re experiencing the trauma for example, is the most uncomfortable symptom of ptsd, it's also the symptom that gets the most people into treatment. Re living, or re experiencing is how we integrate the trauma into our lives. By creating a narrative memory of the trauma, the raw emotions that are attached to the memory usually fade.
Having ptsd is like having a big, open, gaping wound. It's normal for survivors to get defensive of those wounds. Sometimes it feels like other people are poking a finger into that wound as well. PTSD is also a dis-order of healing. PTSD is generally worse in the beginning, or shortly after the trauma. Some wounds heal by themselves in time.
Research also reveals that neurological impairment is a risk factor for PTSD. Shaking and trembling is the bodies attempt to heal itself. It's my belief that the neurological impairment is partially responsible for the development of PTSD. Understanding PTSD is as simple and basic as understanding the neurobiological response to fear:
from memory, trauma, and healing:
In response to threat and injury, animals, including humans, execute biologically based, non-conscious action patterns that prepare them to meet the threat and defend themselves. The very structure of trauma, including activation, dissociation, and freezing are based on the evolution of reptilian, mammalian and primate predator/prey survival behaviors. When threatened or injured, organisms draw from a ''library'' of possible motoric responses supported by adjustments in the autonomic and visceral nervous systems. In response to threat and injury we orient, dodge, duck, stiffen, brace, retract, fight, flee, freeze, collapse, etc. All of these coordinated responses are somatically based-they are things that the body does to protect and defend itself. It is when these orienting and defending responses are overwhelmed that we see trauma.
The bodies of traumatized people portray ''snapshots'' of their unsuccessful attempts to defend themselves in the face of threat and injury. It is because they have been overwhelmed that the execution of their normally continuous responses to threat have become truncated. Trauma is fundamentally a highly activated incomplete biological response to threat, frozen in time. For example, when our full neuromuscular and metabolic machinery prepares us to fight or to flee, muscles throughout the entire body are tensed in specific patterns of high energy readiness. When we are unable to complete the appropriate actions and discharge the tremendous energy generated by our survival preparations, this energy becomes fixated into specific patterns of neuromuscular readiness. Afferent feedback to the brain stem generated from these incomplete neuromuscular/autonomic responses maintains a state of acute and then chronic arousal and dysfunction in the central nervous system. Traumatized people are not suffering from a disease in the normal sense of the word. They have become fixated in an aroused state. It is difficult (if not impossible) to function normally under these circumstances.
Residual incomplete responses (the ''snapshots'' of unsuccessful attempts at defense) are the basis of (implicit) traumatic memory. Trauma is not ''remembered'' in an explicit, conscious form. It is coded as implicit procedures based on biological survival reactions. These incomplete procedures seek completion and integration, not (explicit) remembering. The compulsion that so many trauma survivors have to ''remember'' is often a misinterpretation of the profound urge to complete the highly charged survival responses that were aborted or truncated at the time they were overwhelmed. This is a significant factor in the genesis of spurious memory.
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43 (http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43)
Neurogenic Tremors for the Alleviation of PTSD Symptoms Among Military Personnel
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been clearly identified as one of the biggest problems facing active duty military returning from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) (Gupta, 2004). Even the estimated reports that one out of every eight soldiers who fought in Iraq suffers from PTSD symptoms may be conservative (Hoge et al., 2004). Additionally, according to Friedmans study (2004) there is substantial reason for concern that the reported prevalence of PTSD among returning soldiers will increase in the coming years.
Friedmans study also presents the alarming insight that many soldiers refuse to seek help due to the perception of PTSD. Many fear that admitting to experiencing symptoms of PTSD could harm their careers, cause them to have difficulties with their peers or superiors, or be a stigmatizing admission of an inherent weakness of character. PTSD among the military is often seen as a failure, a weakness, an embarrassment, and evidence of an innate deficiency of the right stuff (Gupta, 2004). A perfect example of this can be found in a personal story of a soldier from the front line. He arrives on the scene right after an ambush and recalls an even more horrific sight than the battle itself.
read the rest at
http://www.traumaprevention.com/index.php?nid=article&article_id=86 (http://www.traumaprevention.com/index.php?nid=article&article_id=86)
If you or a loved one has ever had to battle the VA system for benefits, or proper medical care, you will understand what it's like to go "berserk" in the aftermath of war. Have you ever been in a position where you were literally fighting for your life, or the life of a loved one suffering from ptsd in the aftermath of war? Ever been deprived of your rights, medical attention, benefits you deserve, etc.? The pure rage against the faulty system that ignores and invalidates suffering in the aftermath of war, contributes to autonomic nervous system arousal. The betrayal of what's right causes a post traumatic injury. People with ptsd wind up with a hypersensitivity for justice, because what happened to them was unjust. " Creating and maintaining a worldwide society in which exploitation, oppression, and injustice are commonplace is a form of violence. Ignoring suffering is as much a form of violence as inducing it."
When the people in charge ignore your suffering, this means war!
CPTSD is often thought of as a modern affliction, but this is far from true. As far back as 3,000 years ago, Homer was writing about the effects of battle trauma in The Iliad. The first stages of the onset is referred to as going ‘berserk’ and whilst this has been adopted into the general language, it is a Norse word, which is believed to refer to going into battle ‘bare shirt’ (or without armor). All the Berserker feels he needs is a weapon, and anything else gets in the way. Homer refers to a berserk state: “In his ecstasy of power, he is mad for battle… pure frenzy fills him” Iliad 9:288ff In traumatized battle veterans, there seems to be a pattern of specific conditions that seem to trigger the berserk state that precedes the onset of CPTSD. The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study has identified four of these conditions, which contribute to CPTSD. These are exposure to combat, exposure to abusive violence, deprivation and loss of meaning and control. The berserk state seems to have a survival basis – when facing certain death, a soldier clearly has nothing to lose and everything to gain by ‘losing it’ and turning on the enemy in a wild frenzy. That rush of adrenaline can, sometimes, save your life",
read the rest at
“Already Dead” A study of Combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder http://groups.msn.com/AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo/ptsdandthefam.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=8980&LastModified=4675493896944892512 (http://groups.msn.com/AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo/ptsdandthefam.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=8980&LastModified=4675493896944892512)
So, we now understand that autonomic nervous system arousal is the basis of ptsd. PTSD is a very real, physical injury to the autonomic nervous systems fight or flight response. PTSD is an anxiety dis-order. It's a normal reaction to trauma, NORMAL. PTSD is NOT evidence of a MENTAL Illness.PTSD does not mean you are weak, defective, or crazy. Having PTSD after a trauma means you are perfectly NORMAL, and sane. You didn't deserve that happened to you. You do deserve to recover.
Some of the things that help
Neurofeedback, biofeedback, visual imagery, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing exercises, EMDR therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, sensimotor therapy, etc.
It's also normal to be sad during the grieving process. Being sad is different from clinical depression which lasts for at least two weeks straight. Natural things that help depression are sunlight and exercise, maintaining meaningful relationships, the book "Feeling Good" by David Burns has easy and effective tips for overcoming depression naturally. The book "The relaxation response" is a must read too.
For more healing resources, please pay us a visit in "The Aftermath of War, coping with ptsd too."
AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo@groups.msn.com (AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo@groups.msn.com)
Ps, the symptoms of ptsd and a Traumatic brain injury are very similar. If you've sustained a TBI, traditional treatment for ptsd won't work. Find out more by doing your homework in the aftermath of war.
Thank you for your service and sacrifices, thank you for surviving, and,
Welcome home!
Chris Woolnough
combatptsd
05-15-08, 05:48 AM
A word of caution about medication for ptsd
"You can't heal what you can't feel."
There is no one drug that will treat or cure the symptoms of ptsd. Stress affects every bodily system. It's pretty common practice for the people in the mental health profession to prescribe what I call the anti-everythings. Anti- psychotics, antidepressants, and anti anxiety drugs, even anti nightmare pills. (research shows that medicating the nightmares prevents healing and resolution of the trauma)
Remember, ptsd is an anxiety disorder that causes autonomic nervous system arousal. Many anti depressants cause the same symptoms of anxiety we are trying to eliminate, making the symptoms of ptsd worse. If you take someone in a ptsd crisis, and give them drugs that contribute to the symptoms of ptsd, it's a recipe for suicide in my opinion.
Some numb skull psychiatrists are in the habit of prescribing anti-psychotics for a NORMAL reaction to trauma. Including Robert Rosenheck, a Yale educated psychiatrist.
The Yale-led study is funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Yale School of Medicine will direct a $6.9 million nationwide study into the effectiveness of an anti-psychotic medication for veterans with chronic, military service-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Yale-led study is funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
On Sep 20, 2005, at 3:12 PM, Robert Rosenheck wrote:
I am one of the authors on the study that you read about that found that the newer drugs are not much better than the older ones. Over 30% of veterans with PTSD are now taking these drugs, so our study is not putting them on the drugs -- they are getting them anyway. Our study is needed to find out the answers to your questions. Do these drugs help? Do they harm? We do everything we can to have genuinely informed consent. In my experience veterans are happy to participate in research if they think it I believe this study will help other veterans whatever the results. That's why we are doing it.
Bob
Do you know what I heard him saying?
Will they help, will they harm? Lets find out? By using our nations combat ptsd veterans as guinea pigs!
So much for the Hippocratic oath, first, do no harm.
Risperdal (any antipsychotic, including seroquil, Abilify,zaprexa,etc.) Antipsychotics should only be used at the lowest possible does,when nothing else worked, there is no other choice, For the shortest amount of time, and only if the benefits outweigh the risks. The VA is also using it off label, and you can sue the government if you have been injured by their malpractice!
This is one of a group of psychiatric drugs which causes a serious and sometimes fatal reaction called Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome. It may cause fever, rigid muscles, rapid heart beat, rapid breathing, sweating, shaking, seizures, and unconsciousness or coma. The death rate is 20%.
This drug can also cause tardive dyskinesia (TD). The brain damage caused by TD can be permanent.
Risperdal (Risperidone) Lawsuit Risperdal, which is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson, is another member of the family of drugs knows as Atypical Antipsychotics.
Risperdal has been linked to diabetes and, more specifically, Type 2 diabetes. (Type 2 diabetes is sometimes called adult-onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke)
Other serious side effects, however, include Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), Tardive Dyskinesia, stroke or stroke-like events, and even death. (NMS is a potentially fatal syndrome involving muscle rigidity, and irregular blood pressure and pulse).
Tardive Dyskinesia is a central nervous system disorder, which results in involuntary movement of the limbs and twitching of the face and tongue.)
http://www.coreynahman.com/atypical-antipsychotic-lawsuits.html (http://www.coreynahman.com/atypical-antipsychotic-lawsuits.html)
Please read this manufactures information before agreeing to take Risperdal. And hey guys, I bet they won't tell you that your sex dive will be gone, and your sperm count will NEVER recover, even after you stop the med. Lots of good stuff here that may prevent your death. Please read all before you decide.
http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2003/20272s-26,27,20588s-17,18,21444s-2,3_risperdal_lbl.pdf (http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2003/20272s-26,27,20588s-17,18,21444s-2,3_risperdal_lbl.pdf)
FDA warning letter about risperdal
http://www.leflaw.com/deardoctor2.pdf (http://www.leflaw.com/deardoctor2.pdf)
The so called "mental health professionals," are doing a lot of serious harm to people with ptsd. Please don't let anyone convince you that you're anything less than sane. Antipsychotics are also a class of drugs called NEUROLEPTICS. Neuroleptics CAUSE NEURO-LOGICAL damage. Is it really logical to prescribe this class of drugs to our wounded warriors?
These antipsychotics cause the symptoms of mental illness. (then when the drug is withdrawn, usually because the side effects are intolerable, and a person experiences withdrawal symptoms, they use those symptoms to prove you are mentally ill and need the drugs). Does it make sense to you to treat an autonomic nervous system injury with drugs that actually cause nervous system injury?
Tardive Dyskinesia is a central nervous system disorder, which results in involuntary movement of the limbs and twitching of the face and tongue.) This is a permanent condition, even if you stop taking the drugs. Any antipsychotic medication, actually CAUSES the symptoms of ptsd we are attempting to eliminate. Since we already know that ptsd is a nervous system injury, it doesn't take a rocket scientists to understand that the benefits of these drugs don't outweigh the very serious risks. With side effects like diabetes, neurologic damage, and death, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the "mental health professionals" are doing a lot of harm.
I'm afraid drugs that cause permanent neurological damage will intensify the already debilitating symptoms of ptsd, and increase your suffering, while decreasing your chances for recovery.
Please research ptsd drugs AS IF your life depended on it. (It does!) The ptsd motto "Trust no one," is also a good rule of thumb to follow when some psych is attempting to invalidate your suffering and the normal symptoms of ptsd (which serve a valuable purpose in the healing process) by drugging them into oblivion.
Veterans alert, just say no!
Research your ptsd pills here
http://groups.msn.com/AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo/ptsdandthefam.msnw?action=mb_post&mview=0&ID_TopParent=35350&ID_Parent=35350 (http://groups.msn.com/AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo/ptsdandthefam.msnw?action=mb_post&mview=0&ID_TopParent=35350&ID_Parent=35350)
It's pretty common knowledge that the VA offers pills, not skills.
I AM A VETERAN OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. I WAS DIAGNOSED BY THE ARMY AS HAVING PTSD. I HAVE HAD OUT PATIENT AND IN PATIENT THERAPY. I WILL BE FINE FOR ABOUT 3 WEEKS THEN I FEEL THE SAME ALL OVER AGAIN. I AM CURRENTLY TAKING 150MG EFFEXOR AND 200MG ZOLOFT. I ALSO TAKE 400MG OF SEROQUEL TO SLEEP. I HAVE SEROQUEL IN 25MG TABLETS FOR ANXIETY. SOMETIMES I CAN SLEEP AND SOMETIMES I CANN'T. THE ONLY THING THEY SEEM TO DO FOR ME IS KEEP UPING THE DOSES. I NEED SO REAL HELP. I HAVE INSOMNIA, FLASHBACKS, NIGHTMARES, NIGHT SWEATS, NIGHT JERKS. I CAN SEE AND SMELL THE COMBAT SOME TIMES. I HAVE IN MY SLEEP HIT MY WIFE(NIGHT JERKS). I HAVE COME TO MY WITTS END DOES ANYBODY HAVE A SUGGESTION FOR ME. THANK YOU
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/mentalhealth/messages/32560.html (http://www.medhelp.org/forums/mentalhealth/messages/32560.html)
Neuroleptics and Brain Damage
http://groups.msn.com/AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=32513&LastModified=4675638309226657280 (http://groups.msn.com/AftermathofwarcopingwithPTSDtoo/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=32513&LastModified=4675638309226657280)
I wanted to share this letter from a friend.
"Good day,
I am a friend of a veteran who has ptsd and I am trying to get some information for him.
Apparently he was prescribed risperdal for a few month. He took risperdal until two months ago and then discontinued. After one month he found out through sperm analysis that he sub-fertile with a law count.
He is devastated as he wants to start having a family.
I am trying to find out whether it is reversible and whether he can restore his fertility.
His psychiatrist was of no help so he got a referral to a fertility expert.
The fertility expert told him to wait 4 months and then to test again his fertility.
He explain that it will take up to a month for the affect of risperdal to leave the body and further 3 months to create new sperm clean of the affect of risperdal.
My friend is anxious to know his chances to recover.
In my search for answers on the net I came across your web-site and I wonder if you know of other veterans who were given risperdal, discontinued and whether a few months later (at least four months) managed to recover.
I also would like to be a member as I would like to chat to other people and encouraging my friend to chat as well with other veterans
Thanks for your help"
The manufacturer states the affects on sperm counts are PERMANENT, they NEVER recover, even after going off the antipsychotic drugs. I am assuming that similar antipsychotics have the same effect on sperm counts, etc. Has your veteran been affected in a similar way? Has the VA prevented you from having children of your own after MIStreating you for having ptsd?
"Risperdal should be used only when nothing else worked, and there is no other choice. For the shortest amount of time, and only if the benefits outweigh the risks. The VA is also using it off label, and you can sue the government if you have been injured by their malpractice! "
In sum, this study identified three ways that neuroleptics can (and apparently do) kill people
at alarming rates; 1) causing them to lose their
teeth and get respiratory problems, 2)
overwhelming the body when combined with a
second neuroleptic, and 3) causing rigidity and
reducing their overall activity level. The final
common pathway(s) seemed to be general
medical decline and death from respiratory
illness. Probably no one would have suspected
that neuroleptics were the ultimate cause. We
are right to be concerned about quick deaths
form NMS, agranulocytosis, etc.... but it
appears that more ordinary deaths from
neuroleptics are much more common.
read the rest at
http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12522 (http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12522)
Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D.
Staff Psychiatrist, Boston VA Outpatient Clinic
jshay@world.std.com (jshay@world.std.com)
10/1/95
About medications for ptsd:
This was prepared as educational material for combat veterans, but may be useful to others, such as veterans' spouses and non-physician mental health professionals. It is in the public domain and may be duplicated and distributed freely.
read the entire article here
http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/ptsd.html (http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/ptsd.html)
Things to avoid
Benzodiazepines: diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), etc.
Caffeine
Yohimbine
Any illegal drug
Research shows that Cognitive behavioral therapy, etc, is AS EFFECTIVE as medication. And even MORE EFFECTIVE in the long run.
Chris Woolnough