Self-Compassion can go a long way to healing PTSD

On the flip side, there are facts to destroy the assumptions about PTSD

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 28, 2020

While leprosy had been reported within the Bible, there are scientific proofs of it and what cures it, as much as there is news it has not been "cured" all the way.

The first known written mention of leprosy is dated 600 B.C., but skeletal evidence of leprosy has been found dating back to 2000 B.C. Throughout history, those with leprosy have often been ostracized by their communities and families.

Ancient people thought it was a judgement from God, instead of an infection. Most assume it has been cured and no one has it anymore...but that is not the truth.

That may be a bit surprising — leprosy seems to be a disease of the past. Indeed, in 2006, the World Health Organization issued a report on "elimination of leprosy as a public health problem," stating that the number of cases had dropped by 90 percent since 1985.

But more than a decade later, leprosy persists. According to a report in The Lancet: Infectious Diseases, some 200,000 new cases, including 25,000 in children, are reported each year. About half of these new cases are in India.

What it took was for someone to think about the facts behind leprosy, to attempt to treat it for what it was, and help the patient heal. How many others thought the healer was wrong to go against what they presumed to be true...that God sent it to the person?

It took until 1873 for a scientist to find the germ that caused it, instead of the sin many blamed. Those with it, got treated, healed and lived a better quality of life.

There are a lot of presumptions on all kinds of things. On the flip side, there are facts to destroy the assumptions.

The stigma of PTSD is allowed to live on because too many believe things that are simply not true. Those assumptions infect those who are suffering instead of helping them to become healed. Too many believe there is no hope for them, and they give up. At least that is what we have been led to believe, but the truth is, many more find healing because they know the facts. They understand what PTSD is, what caused it, the different types of it, as well as, the different levels of it.

They also know that to heal it, how they think about themselves and treat themselves is vital in living a better quality of life, if not entirely cured.

Self‐Compassion, Trauma and Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review

Sarah‐Jane Winders Orlagh Murphy Kathy Looney Gary O'Reilly
First published: 27 January 2020

Abstract

Self‐compassion has emerged as an important construct in the mental health literature. Although conceptual links between self‐compassion and trauma are apparent, a review has not been completed to examine whether this association is supported by empirical research findings. To systematically summarise knowledge on the association between trauma and/or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self‐compassion. Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, PubMed, Ovid Medline, Web of Science, Embase and PILOTS databases and papers reporting a direct analysis on the relationship between these constructs were identified. The search yielded 35 studies meeting inclusion criteria.

Despite considerable heterogeneity in study design, sample, measurement and trauma type, there was consistent evidence to suggest that increased self‐compassion is associated with less PTSD symptomatology and some evidence to suggest that reduced fear of self‐compassion is associated with less PTSD symptomatology. There was tentative evidence to suggest that interventions based, in part or whole, on a self‐compassion model potentially reduce PTSD symptoms. While findings are positive for the association between increased self‐compassion and reduced PTSD symptoms, the precise mechanism of these protective effects is unknown. Prospective and longitudinal studies would be beneficial in clarifying this. The review also highlighted the variability in what is and should be referred to as trauma exposure, indicating the need for further research to clarify the concept.
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Courage and Combat PTSD
393 views•Oct 21, 2012
Kathie Costos DiCesare
252 subscribers
There are many things that keep getting missed when we talk about Combat and PTSD. This is to clear up the biggest one of all. What is courage and how does it link to being "mentally tough" so that you can push past what you were told about "resiliency" training. Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare of Wounded Times Blog tries to explain this in interview done by Union Squared Studios. woundedtimes.blogspot.com

"That's one of the parts most of you forget about. PTSD didn't happen to you because you are "mentally weak" but because your courage and compassion made you care enough to act. That is not weakness. That, that comes from strength of character."