Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.
[LONG post warning :-)]
Leo brought up some pretty good scientific info about PTSD on another thread. We thought it might BE a good idea to start a thread that's kind of dedicated TO the science.
Some will care about this stuff a lot, some a little, some not at all. Whatever works for you :-)
I want to make a suggestion, here. I used to participate on a forum for people with severely dry eyes. LIKE PTSD, that might not sound so bad ... until you get to know these (severely dry eye) people.
They are suffering. LOTS of thoughts of suicide, depression, anxiety, etc.
Sound familiar ? ;-)
But lots of people post links to published medical studies, and don't comment on the studies. There's a WHOLE lot of jargon in most of these studies. It's often VERY hard to figure out what the plain-English point of the study even is unless you've really studied this stuff, formally OR informally.
So ... for those of us who want to post links ... if the studies ARE full of jargon, and very technical ... and if we CAN kind of 'summarize' them, in plain language ... it might be really helpful for others who aren't as fluent in medical/scientific gobbledygook :-)
The one I was looking at this morning ... just to kick-start this thing ... doesn't seem all that technical, so ... hopefully it CAN speak for itself:
http://www.washacadsci.org/Journal/Journalarticles/V.93-3-Post%20Traumatic%20Stress%20Disorder.%20Sethanne%20Howard%20and%20Mark%20Crandalll.pdf
One thing this author does that, I think, is extremely helpful for us and our cause is ... to try to knock down the victim blaming.
Since our 'disease' is invisible, I like to come up with VISIBLE examples that MIGHT help somebody understand.
If you were in war, and suffered a horrible leg wound ... they might repair your leg, but you might very well come home with a limp.
That's a pretty visible, long-term effect of the trauma your leg suffered. I like to think of PTSD as ... kind of ... my mind now walks with a limp :-)
Another pretty "easy to get your head around" piece is ... the effects of cumulative trauma, but not necessarily Complex PTSD.
I can put that in another physical analogy: somebody can take a particular drug -- let's say Amoxicillin, an antibiotic -- a dozen times, with NO adverse effect, and then -- just one more sinus infection ... and one more seven-day course of Amoxicillin, and ... there could be a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction.
The body -- it seems -- doesn't ignore the past. It becomes sensitised TO a drug, making it MORE likely -- with repeated use -- that there WILL be a bad reaction.
We all know that when we're not doing so well, we're acutely vulnerable to our particular stressors. At the risk of stating the painfully obvious, I think we become sensitized TO cumulative, repeated stress and trauma.
As my therapist said ... PTSD is definitely cumulative. It may BE one particular trauma that really changed everything, or ... it might be a number of traumas, over any length of time, that finally caused us to walk with that limp.
I also like to remember that -- collectively -- we're building a "knowledge base --" a virtual library of information about PTSD.
We all know that not everybody who comes here for the first time will search the forum, or scan through the forum, or even know what the letters "PTSD" stand for (literally). But some will. Some will do a lot of lurking and reading before they ever come up for air, and say "Hi !"
This is for us. This is for them.
One last concept: Keywords.
What *I* used to do on that dry eyes forum is add keywords to my post, occasionally, the way that researchers and academics might. It often makes a particular post easier to find (ie, more likely to come up in the search results) when somebody is searching for something specific.
I'll do that at the bottom of this post. Feel free to ignore it. Feel free to NEVER use keywords, yourself. As always ... my two cents: take it or leave it. Whatever works for each of us :-)
So ... from my little corner of the world ... and with my particular breed of limp ... I'd like to introduce ... the 'science of PTSD' thread :-)
----
Keywords: brain neurology neurobiology imaging MRI CT PET fMRI amygdala sympathetic parasympathetic nervous autonomic hippocampus
Leo brought up some pretty good scientific info about PTSD on another thread. We thought it might BE a good idea to start a thread that's kind of dedicated TO the science.
Some will care about this stuff a lot, some a little, some not at all. Whatever works for you :-)
I want to make a suggestion, here. I used to participate on a forum for people with severely dry eyes. LIKE PTSD, that might not sound so bad ... until you get to know these (severely dry eye) people.
They are suffering. LOTS of thoughts of suicide, depression, anxiety, etc.
Sound familiar ? ;-)
But lots of people post links to published medical studies, and don't comment on the studies. There's a WHOLE lot of jargon in most of these studies. It's often VERY hard to figure out what the plain-English point of the study even is unless you've really studied this stuff, formally OR informally.
So ... for those of us who want to post links ... if the studies ARE full of jargon, and very technical ... and if we CAN kind of 'summarize' them, in plain language ... it might be really helpful for others who aren't as fluent in medical/scientific gobbledygook :-)
The one I was looking at this morning ... just to kick-start this thing ... doesn't seem all that technical, so ... hopefully it CAN speak for itself:
http://www.washacadsci.org/Journal/Journalarticles/V.93-3-Post%20Traumatic%20Stress%20Disorder.%20Sethanne%20Howard%20and%20Mark%20Crandalll.pdf
One thing this author does that, I think, is extremely helpful for us and our cause is ... to try to knock down the victim blaming.
Since our 'disease' is invisible, I like to come up with VISIBLE examples that MIGHT help somebody understand.
If you were in war, and suffered a horrible leg wound ... they might repair your leg, but you might very well come home with a limp.
That's a pretty visible, long-term effect of the trauma your leg suffered. I like to think of PTSD as ... kind of ... my mind now walks with a limp :-)
Another pretty "easy to get your head around" piece is ... the effects of cumulative trauma, but not necessarily Complex PTSD.
I can put that in another physical analogy: somebody can take a particular drug -- let's say Amoxicillin, an antibiotic -- a dozen times, with NO adverse effect, and then -- just one more sinus infection ... and one more seven-day course of Amoxicillin, and ... there could be a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction.
The body -- it seems -- doesn't ignore the past. It becomes sensitised TO a drug, making it MORE likely -- with repeated use -- that there WILL be a bad reaction.
We all know that when we're not doing so well, we're acutely vulnerable to our particular stressors. At the risk of stating the painfully obvious, I think we become sensitized TO cumulative, repeated stress and trauma.
As my therapist said ... PTSD is definitely cumulative. It may BE one particular trauma that really changed everything, or ... it might be a number of traumas, over any length of time, that finally caused us to walk with that limp.
I also like to remember that -- collectively -- we're building a "knowledge base --" a virtual library of information about PTSD.
We all know that not everybody who comes here for the first time will search the forum, or scan through the forum, or even know what the letters "PTSD" stand for (literally). But some will. Some will do a lot of lurking and reading before they ever come up for air, and say "Hi !"
This is for us. This is for them.
One last concept: Keywords.
What *I* used to do on that dry eyes forum is add keywords to my post, occasionally, the way that researchers and academics might. It often makes a particular post easier to find (ie, more likely to come up in the search results) when somebody is searching for something specific.
I'll do that at the bottom of this post. Feel free to ignore it. Feel free to NEVER use keywords, yourself. As always ... my two cents: take it or leave it. Whatever works for each of us :-)
So ... from my little corner of the world ... and with my particular breed of limp ... I'd like to introduce ... the 'science of PTSD' thread :-)
----
Keywords: brain neurology neurobiology imaging MRI CT PET fMRI amygdala sympathetic parasympathetic nervous autonomic hippocampus
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I haven't written in my diary on my computer since May because I thought that my computer was dying. I got away from writing but my computer is hanging in there. I think that I will start writing in it again. It's so therapeutic.
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First, I hope everyone is doing well, and continuing to fight that good fight! Keep up the great work on yourselves; I'm rooting for all of you!So, I started doing therapy at the beginning of the year, when I was in my most depressed state, but with my therapist, I made big changes and steps in the right direction. But, over a month ago, she couldn't take my insurance anymore, and I had to stop...
A Plain English Sumamry of the KeyWords David mentioned (ta-da!)
MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging, a diagnostic tool that uses magnetic fields that excite little happy molecules in your scanned region (brain, hip, whatever). Long story short? The rate of the molecules going back to happy equilibrium helps determine contrast between tissues.
fMRI: Functional MRI, or one taken during stimulation, used often in brain imaging. to measure neural activity. The resolution isn't as good as a traditional MRI but it allows a pretty good picture of where teh brain is getting active
CT: Computerized tomography using X-rays (yes, radiation). Used to be called CAT scans. They use two-dimensional images to create a 3-d image of the scanned area. Common.
PET: Positron emission tomography. Basically, you get this stuff in your body that then emits radiation that shows glucose being used in the body---a scan of function on the physiological level, instead of anatomical (CT and MRI). These days, usually done with a CT or MRI, but when Ihad one way back when, no.
The Amygdala: Almond-shaped structures in the brain that are considered part of the limbic system---vital in decision-making, memory, and emotional processing. ALso emotional learning and memory regulation. (Hence their importance to PTSDers). Ineresting to note, the right-side amygdala is a negative-emotion source when stimulated---but the left-side amygdala can go positive or negative. Threw that in there out of innate Nerdness.
The symapthetic-parasympathetic nervous system. Actually, all the nervous system, just these are the two "oppositional" forces within the central nervous system. IN the medical school shorthand?
Sympathetic is fight-flight; parasympathetic is rest-digest. You can kinda see why we want to boost our parasympathetic responses.
Autonomic nervous system is the below-conscious-level nervous system and sympathetic-parasympathetic are two of its divsions. (Third is enteric but not relevant to PTSD as a rule).
Hippocampus: Another brain structure. Important in two big things for us vertebrates: spatial relationships and navigations, and the processing of short-term memory into long-term memory. (AKA "memory consolidation"). It is very vulnerable to long-term stress, and a few studies indicate that PTSDers have atrophy of the hippocampus --- that is, our hippocampuses (Hiipocampi?) don't do the workcorrectly. Antidepressants in rats at least are shown to help reverse that even if the rest of the depression symptoms aren't helepd---oh, and females seem to cope better than males, in rats, at least. (Sorry, but the hippocampus is big inepilepsy, too, which I also have, so...) Hippocampus is like the amygdala---part of our limbic system.
I'd like to also add a quick addendum, if David doesn't mind:
Limbic system: It's nto really a separate system, just a series of structures in the brain that are key in things like emotiona, motivation, behavior, and memory.
I used to freelance translating science-speak to "everyday English". No idea if I do it well.
The term PTSD finally hit the medical books in 1980. Previous names included shell shock, soldier's heart, combat fatigue, and even "nostalgia" (assuming that soldiers longed for their homes when "breaking down"). Thought that was kinda interesting. "Nostalgia" goes back to the 17th century, btw, and "soldier's heart" was a reference to the elevated heart rate and BP of PTSD-suffering vets of the American Civil War. It wasn't until the late 20th century that they finally realized it was BOTH psychological and physical.
Or we could just keyword it to "Nerd alert", LOL!
Yet my faith continues with the fervor of Nicolaus Copernicus insisting that the Earth is not the center of the solar system.
My favorite part of your nerd-a-thon, David was the reminder that we, right here, right now, are building a virtual library of PTSD. My contribution to support that statement can be found here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15062630
Give me Nerdy or give me Death!
That was a great addition. Thank you.
I puzzled my way through that particular PubMed abstract ... as I do many ... though I've literally been reading them for decades.
But ... at the very end ... I found this heartwarming bit:
"When it is understood how trauma affects the brain and how treatment produces neurobiological changes that may remediate trauma-related effects, the patient will be in a better position to make choices about what can and cannot be done in the process of recovery. Giving patients this critical internal locus of control will provide therapeutic benefits such as confidence,self-esteem, and hope that are likely to enhance changes that occur with intervention."
For Geek-Speak, it seems a bit rare to me to see this sort of focus on using knowledge TO empower the patient.
I think that's a particularly beautiful sentiment.
And ... Leo ??? Our in-house, human glossary. How cool is that :-)
I may take to referring to you, affectionately, as Mosby :-)
Great link, Arfie!
Understanding the biology of a dx always helps me find ways to cope with it better. I can talk myself through the science and feel like there's less of me "broken" or "lost".
I like, too, how it makes the point that the DSM IV categorizes disorders, not people. That labeling thing pops up in our threads here a lot. So, too does the false distinction between physical vs. mental disorders. The article validates that, too.
How'd you ever find an article that does all that and then does a nice overview of the brain, too? A "light-hearted" look at the brain,as it puts it.
I know I can benefit from a thread with this kind of solid scientific info. I'm no brain surgeon, but until 2010 I was a hospital chaplain on a neurosurgical unit at a hospital. I tried to be "light-hearted" myself. Ironic, huh?
Thanks for starting this thread, David.
Muji
Although at times I can get into Nerd Mode, tonight is not one of those times.
but I do have a question.. Last I knew PTSD was being associated with adrenalin metabolism problems, among other things. Is that still true? At least part of the reason that some people get PTSD and some people don't, from the same situation?
Adrenaline metabolism is, to me at least, tricky area of research where PTSD is concerned. Let's just say I'll assume that anyone's system set to red-zone will eventually suffer. The hippocampus in depression and PTSD can suffer atrophy---but it's been shown to be reversed with treatment with anti-depressants even if nothing else gets better. So I'm going to incline to the idea that the adrenal issue is simply that when set to Red Alert as we are, we wear out our systems in certain ways that "normals" do not.
It's a good book about how PTSD can be prevented during trauma, how it happens when not prevented, what can be done after trauma to lessen PTSD and how to recover if PTSD takes root.