Why you should see an expert to treat PTSD?

Why you should see an expert to treat PTSD?
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
June 8, 2013

Everyday I read hundreds of articles on PTSD associated with military service. Sometimes experts have written the article but most of the time they are written by reporters with a simplistic understanding leaving too many things out of what they write. If they lack basic information, they fail to ask the right questions and often leave their readers with bad information. Sometimes they are written by veterans with PTSD and family members. When I read those, I am reminded of everything else I read that day and I get angry because they are still suffering so much. After all the years PTSD has been researched, more and more groups have stepped up to help. Most were not aware of how huge this medical crisis was until reporters started to fill them in but it was the veterans stepping up to tell their stories that created everything done today. The problem is, too many want to help but are not trained properly to do it.

I had really bad pain running down my arms and legs. I can't tell you how many things I thought it could be and I stressed myself out trying to figure out what was happening inside of me. Finally I went to see my family doctor. He listened to what I saying, did some basic checks then sent me for an MRI. When I got there, they said they had to scan my head and neck. I thought they were nuts since I didn't feel pain there. They were right. I have two bulging discs that hit nerves. If my doctor did not had enough understanding of how the human body works, he wouldn't have sent me to the right place first. These discs act up once in a while and I put up with the pain because I know where it originates from and that the pain will go away. My doctor recommended an expert to see if the pain gets too much for me.

Veterans can see psychologists and psychiatrists fully educated on how the mind works and they can give basic help based on what they know. If they do not listen carefully to what the veteran has to say, they can, and often do, make the wrong decisions on treatment if they are not experts on PTSD. Yet even if they have a basic knowledge, they will hear key words clueing them in on what the origin of the problem is. Some of the key words are "all of a sudden" along with nightmares and "seeing things" like when they have a flashback but do not know what it is. When they say they are hearing things but do not communicate what those sounds are, the psychologist will make an assumption and the wrong treatment is provided. If they are aware of what is associated with PTSD, especially combat PTSD, then they will refer the veteran to an expert. Combat PTSD is different from other types of PTSD because of the nature of the trauma and the number of exposures along with duration of the threat.

This article came out in 1991.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in the community: an epidemiological study

Jonathan R. T. Davidson, Dana Hughes, Dana G. Blazer and Linda K. George (1991).
Psychological Medicine, Volume 21, Issue03, August 1991 pp 713-721
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?aid=5070376

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was studied in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Among 2985 subjects, the lifetime and six month prevalence figures for PTSD were 1·30 and 0·44 % respectively. In comparison to non-PTSD subjects, those with PTSD had significantly greater job instability, family history of psychiatric illness, parental poverty, child abuse, and separation or divorce of parents prior to age 10. PTSD was associated with greater psychiatric co-morbidity and attempted suicide, increased frequency of bronchial asthma, hypertension, peptic ulcer and with impaired social support. Differences were noted between chronic and acute PTSD on a number of measures, with chronic PTSD being accompanied by more frequent social phobia, reduced social support and greater avoidance symptoms.

There should be no excuses for getting this wrong. Every psychiatrist and psychologist should have a basic understanding of what PTSD is by now so they can refer the veteran to the proper help they need and that help has to come from an expert. The problem is too many treating veterans are not experts on trauma and too few are veterans with a deeper understanding of what is going on. If they leave out the two other parts of the veteran, their body and spirit, then the veteran is cheated out of deeper healing.

Medication treats their brains but if they do not know how to calm down their bodies, they are given more medication. If they know what they can do to teach their bodies to relax, then they don't need more medication to get numb. Constantly being on edge causes other problems with their health.

If they do not take care of their spiritual needs, then they lack the ability to forgive as well as be forgiven thus feeding the anger aspect of PTSD. I can't remember how many times a veteran has asked why they are getting so angry all the time over little things. Constantly feeling this way causes problems in their relationships.

A great doctor will know when it is time to send a veteran to the right expert. A great psychologist will know if they know enough to treat the veteran properly or send them to someone with more knowledge than they have. The best one will know that everything is connected and will recommend the proper ways to treat the whole veteran.

Everything I learned over the years came from the experts, listening to veterans and living with my own veteran. The information is out there. The trick is, finding it. If you start with communicating with you doctor, they will know where to send you for the help you need. If they don't, then find another doctor.