Re: Re: PTSD Symptoms

[Guest guest]

Here are some symptoms of PTSD:

Having intrusive thoughts about a traumatic incident.

Here's an example: People with wound complications sometimes can't get over

it. To see how much I'd healed, and to " debried " the wound, they would take

warm saline solution and sort of " woosh " it into my body cavity. Then they'd

see how fast it came out of my other wounds. I can't get some of those

sensations and feelings out of my mind, and the memories come up when I don't

want them to. My mother has wound complications from her heart surgery. As

I'm taking care of her, that memory, plus others associated with all of my

wound complications, enter my mind. I can't get them out of my mind.

Never feeling " safe " or at ease, even when it's reasonable to think you are

safe.

I'm better now, but because I was the victim of a violent crime and saw lots

of violence growing up, I never felt safe. People who have severe PTSD can

be hypervigilant. Have you ever heard of someone who's survived a war, and

they overreact whenever they hear a loud bang? That's a symptom of PTSD. In

very extreme cases, ptsd patients can have problems realizing they're not

back in the traumatic event. These are the dramatic things we hear about,

where someone thinks they're fighting the Viet Cong or being raped. Many

people who have ptsd never have experiences like that.

Emotional Numbness

People who've had lots of trauma sometimes say they can't feel anything, good

or bad. Sometimes I feel like I'm encased in Styrofoam. I didn't cry at my

grandmother's funeral, although I loved her. My highs aren't very high,

either. I can't seem to fall in love, or get really attached to anyone, or

laugh like I used to.

I don't think the surgery itself gives people PTSD, but severe complications

can. People who've had leaks or even minor wound complications can report

problems getting past it. People who have other medical problems, like heart

attacks or cancer, sometimes also seem to have these problems.

I don't understand why one soldier exposed to terrible things gets severe

PTSD and another one doesn't. People are starting to research resiliency, to

try to answer that question. With wound complications, it seems like some

people get over it better than others. I think because I had repeated wound

complications it sort of " stuck " in my brain more than if I'd just had one

severe complication. I'm certain that the fact that I was stabbed as a child

sort of set me up to have ptsd later. The " path " was sort of setup in my

brain.

This is a very long post, but I want to tell you about some research. They

took healthy baby mice and kept them warm and safe, but away from the mama

mouse for 15 minutes once a day when they were still nursing. That's all.

Other than that, they had normal mouse babyhoods. After that, as " young

adult mice " they were exposed to a virus, as was a control group that had

never been separated from their mamas. Guess what? The " stressed " mice got

sicker easier than the healthy mice. Not to insult the mice of the world,

but people have far more complex nervous systems and brains than mice.

Imagine what even minor childhood trauma does to our immune systems. It's

amazing. On the other hand, if we can take care of our " souls " , even if we

still have medical problems, imagine what we're doing to boost our immune

systems.