Not everyone develops PTSD after experiencing a traumatic event. But when traumatic reactions linger or become chronic, they can cover a wide range or physical and emotional effects that make it very hard to live. PTSD can occur from one event, or from many smaller events experienced over time, known as Complex PTSD (cPTSD).
Typical symptoms include mental replays of the event, being triggered to mentally reexperiencing the event in unpredictable moments, shaking, panic attacks, insomnia, difficulty regulating emotions, numbness to emotions and physical sensations, mental fog, fatigue, chronic pain, irrational fear, nightmares, guilt, shame, and isolation to name some.
I’ve suffered from PTSD for all of my adult life, and I can share a two options that have been major for my own healing,
*You also need to be working with a skilled, PTSD literate therapist. Be open to building a varied set of tools to manage it and heal. But have a trusted practitioner alongside side you while you do it. This is an absolute must.*
-Acupuncture: In my experience, symptoms that respond well are insomnia, anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. For me, the intense anxiety was the first thing to shift. After three sessions, the mental clarity I got after turning the noise down on the anxiety was relief I can’t even put into words. It didn’t get rid of all of the PTSD, but allowed me calmness and motivation to move forward, as if a light went on in my brain.
-Acupressure Tapping AKA Emotional Freedom Technique: This method provides a sequence of acu points that you tap while working your way through statements about your experience, and allowing the feelings to come up as you tap. It’s transformative. It’s been pivotal for me, and positive outcomes for PTSD and other emotional distress have been shown in many studies. It can done anywhere, takes minutes, and costs nothing.
If you’re experiencing PTSD and need support, please reach out. We know how to help calm a dysregulated nervous system. Let us support you on your journey.
Check out the book, The Tapping Cure by Roberta Temes. There are many books about the tapping technique but this one is very straightforward and no nonsense.
The app Tapping Solutions is great, there are hundred of guided sequences for all manner of issues. I can’t say much for their musical choices 😂 but the sequences are very effective. There are loads of tapping sequences on YouTube as well if you want to shop around for someone to guide you.
References:
Li XY, Sun YP, Lu J, Jiang HL, Tu Y. [Progress of researches on acupuncture and moxibustion for treating post-traumatic stress disorder in the past five years]. Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2021 May 25;46(5):439-44. Chinese. doi: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.200654. PMID: 34085470.
Hollifield M. Acupuncture for posttraumatic stress disorder: conceptual, clinical, and biological data support further research. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2011 Dec;17(6):769-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-5949.2011.00241.x. Epub 2011 Feb 26. PMID: 22070661; PMCID: PMC6493831.
Assouline A, Mendelsohn A, Reshef A. Memory-directed acupuncture as a neuromodulatory treatment for PTSD: Theory, clinical model and case studies. Transl Psychiatry. 2022 Mar 17;12(1):110. doi: 10.1038/s41398-022-01876-3. PMID: 35296636; PMCID: PMC8927413.
Church D, Stapleton P, Mollon P, Feinstein D, Boath E, Mackay D, Sims R. Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD Using Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). Healthcare (Basel). 2018 Dec 12;6(4):146. doi: 10.3390/healthcare6040146. PMID: 30545069; PMCID: PMC6316206.
Church D, Stapleton P, Sabot D. App-Based Delivery of Clinical Emotional Freedom Techniques: Cross-Sectional Study of App User Self-Ratings. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Oct 14;8(10):e18545. doi: 10.2196/18545. PMID: 32862128; PMCID: PMC7593862.