Relating to others in a relatable way, is logically, the best way to have an impact when it comes to the conversation of PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. June is PTSD awareness month, which encourages us to open the dialogue about trauma and PTSD.
Most people have experienced at least one life changing moment in their lifetime. No matter how long someone has been on earth, they have been impacted by millions of little messages and moments of influence which has shaped who they are in some way. It can be as small as food. For example, when a young child doesn’t like a food or has a negative experience with a food, that causes a deep programming in the brain. Encountering that food is rarely a mild experience but a strong one. Everything in that person’s being sounds the alarm physically and mentally that a food they despise has been approached. That one negative food experience shaped their nervous system by changing how they see the world. They aren’t that kind of food person anymore. A world where people eat that food is not the world that they live in.
Trauma will be experienced by most people in their lifetime. Most people will respond to trauma in some kind of way. Few people will develop PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, a complex response to trauma. When we look at trauma the way Judy Crane defines it, we can see how the response of PTSD makes as much sense as the response to a bad food experience. Trauma, as Judy defines it in The Trauma Heart, is “any life event or series of life events or ongoing life events that create a negative impact on your life that changes or distorts your vision of yourself and your place in the world.”
At its most mild, the experience of trauma is like the experience of tasting something we don’t like. Quite literally, trauma puts a bad taste in our mouths about the world and creates a living memory association in our minds and bodies with that taste. We shy away from what repulses us because we cannot stand to endure the physical reactions associated with the stimuli. In a similar manner, PTSD is the sympathetic nervous system’s way of saying yuck, I don’t like this, don’t make me do it again, only on a much more survivalistic basis.
People who seek treatment for trauma are seeking the skills and healing necessary to encourage a life of thriving rather than surviving. Living without certain foods is manageable. Complex PTSD can lead to living without necessary elements of life like good mental health, physical health, and relationships.
If you are living with the symptoms of trauma, help is available to you. The Guest House Ocala offers residential treatment programs for trauma, addictions, and related mental health issues, concierge customized to meet each guest’s unique needs. Call us today for information: 1-855-483-7800