Working to prevent PTSD,,,,again

If I had a dollar for every time I read something like this, I'd never need another dime in donations!

Working to prevent PTSD
September 5, 2012

(NECN/NBC News: Erika Edwards) - When most people hear the term "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," they automatically think of the military, but PTSD doesn't discriminate.

Anyone can develop the condition.

Researchers at Emory University are looking at trauma patients who never stepped foot on a battlefield with the hope of preventing PTSD from developing.

Susan Cash has spent most of her adult life looking for healing after surviving a violent rape and shooting as a young woman.

"My own father could not even hug me, I would lay in bed and pray my husband would not touch me. It was awful, and everyday was a challenge," she says.

After years of trying different forms of therapy Susan was eventually diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Dr. Barbara Rothbaum of Emory University says most people think PTSD is a soldier's disease, but civilians are also greatly affected.

"About 70 percent of us will be exposed to a traumatic event that could result in PTSD," Dr. Rothbaum says.

She and her colleagues are trying to prevent ptsd by starting therapy immediately after a traumatic event.
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IMPORTANT EVENTS IN NIMH HISTORY
1946—On July 3 President Harry Truman signed the National Mental Health Act, which called for the establishment of a National Institute of Mental Health. The first meeting of the National Advisory Mental Health Council was held on August 15. Because no federal funds had yet been appropriated for the new institute, the Greentree Foundation financed the meeting.

There is the place to start. Crisis response started because Vietnam veterans started the research in what happens after trauma. Yep, those guys. This is not new, has been researched all over the world for a very, very long time.

Crisis intervention teams are fairly new but not what is done after someone is exposed to traumatic events. Talking about what happened helps the healing process by taking that time of fear and translating it while in a safe place so that moment replaces the moment of terror. In other words, brings things back to "normal" again. Leaving that pain along with all of the responses the body goes through during the event leaves the survivor still in the fight.

I've read about this for 30 years but lived with it. My family talked about everything especially when something went wrong, which was a "normal" occurrence for us. Long story short, with an abundance of traumatic events I survived, I do not have PTSD simply because I had someone to talk to right after it happened.

This is one of the reasons why I did so much Crisis Intervention training from 2008-2010. It works! But it is far from new.