- Hey everybody.
For those of you who don't know,
last night in Las Vegas, Nevada, there was a mass shooting.
People were gathered around a concert,
there was a Country Music Festival going on.
And from the thirty second floor of the Mandalay Bay
a man shot and killed, at this point,
58 people have been reported as dead
and over 500 have been injured.
When I heard about this my first thought
is always that of why, what, are you serious?
And then intense anger.
Because how could someone do something so heinous?
So horrible?
Such an act of evil towards other people
and take their lives?
And then complete sadness and worry,
because I have friends and loved ones
that lived in Las Vegas.
And so then I was reaching out and making sure
that they were okay and that they had what they needed.
And luckily, everyone that is close to me is okay.
But that's not the case for over 500 people were injured,
58 people's lives were taken.
And then I got to thinking, well what's something
that I can do to give back?
Because I feel kind of helpless over here in Los Angeles.
What can I do to make people's lives
maybe a little better or offer some support?
And the one thing that I do have is my education.
And so today I want to talk to you a little bit about PTSD.,
the signs and symptoms and what treatment options
you can have for those of you who may experiencing PTSD
or any result of this horrible, heinous act.
We've also had a bunch of crazy things happening lately,
whether it's natural disasters or mass shootings.
And so hopefully this information is just a beacon of hope,
a light in the darkness to help you know
that it can and will get better.
Now for those of you who don't know what PTSD
or post traumatic stress disorder is,
it's a mental illness that people can develop
after witnessing or experiencing a life-threatening event.
And I wanna read to you a little bit from the DSM
on how we can develop PTSD and the reasons behind it.
Because I want all of you to know
that you don't actually have to be at an event
in the traumatic experience yourself in order to develop it.
And the first way is obviously directly experiencing
the traumatic event.
The second is witnessing in person the event
or events as it occurred to others.
The third is learning that the traumatic event
occurred to a close family member or a close friend.
And the fourth, experiencing repeated or extreme exposure
to adverse details of the traumatic event.
And so you can see that first responders
could struggle with PTSD following this.
Close family member of those who were at the concert,
even if they walked away unscathed,
can also struggle with PTSD.
We don't actually have to be in an event
and fear for our life in that way to struggle with PTSD
following a traumatic event such as this.
Some of the most common signs and symptoms of PTSD
are number one, flashbacks.
We can close our eyes for a moment and feel like
we're right back in that situation,
in that extremely traumatic and frightening experience.
The second is hypervigilance.
Do you hear a car door slam
and automatically jump to the ground
feeling like you're right back there at that concert
in that traumatizing scenario?
The third is struggling with a lot of negative thoughts.
Feeling like the world isn't a safe place
and everyone in it is evil.
This can make us really irritable
and lash out at our loved ones.
And the fourth most common is avoidance.
Are we going out of our way to make sure
that we're not in contact with anything that could remind us
of that experience?
Those are the four most common signs and symptoms of PTSD.
So if you find yourself experiencing any of those,
please reach out to a mental healthcare professional.
And know that PTSD has no age limit or restrictions.
It can happen to anyone.
But there is hope and that's why I wanna talk to you
about some treatment options,
because there are many variations and ways
that we can get the help that we need.
And the first is trauma focused therapy.
You've heard me talk with Alexa in my videos,
I'll like those in the description,
but somatic experiencing.
Where we tap into how our body feels
and how we think about it and we work to heal that.
Another is EMDR, which is where we work on the eye movements
so that we give our brain a chance to process
through that trauma experience.
Because, you've heard me talk about this,
how traumatic experiences can be so overwhelming
and just too much for our brain to deal with at once,
that we kind of shove it off to the side.
And that's why it bubbles up and we have flashbacks
and have the signs of hypervigilance
is because we never got a chance to really process it
and heal from it.
And EMDR gives us another chance to do that.
Another treatment option is talk therapy,
where we talk through a scenario in detail.
Which is just another way, yet again,
to give our brain the time it needs
to process through that traumatic experience.
And also, DBT, dialectical behavior therapy
can be really beneficial
because a lot of what we feel when it comes to trauma
is just overwhelm.
And DBT gives us the tools that we need to better manage
how we feel and know that we can work through it
and we can do it in small chunks,
versus feeling completely blown over
by all that we're going through.
And another treatment option is prolonged exposure therapy.
And what that really means is that we talk
through the trauma in detail over and over and over
until that experience and that memory
has no emotional charge for us.
It doesn't pull us into a flashback anymore,
it doesn't cause us to cry.
We're able to talk it through in a normal fashion
and know that it's okay.
And medication is another option.
You've heard me talk many, many times before
how therapy and medication together
give us the best result,
but obviously talk to your doctor.
All we know thus far is that SSRIs and SNRIs
are great at treating the symptoms of PTSD.
So consult with your doctor
and see if that's a right fit for you.
If you noticed, I monetized this video.
And I will be donating all the proceeds
to those in Las Vegas who are struggling at this time.
My deepest condolences to any of you
who were affected by this heinous act.
If you're like me and you felt really helpless
and you weren't sure how to assist those who were hurting,
I will link in the description
ways that you can better get involved.
I know Casey Neistat created a video
and has opened a GoFundMe where he's going to make sure
that all the funds get to people who need it most.
You can click that link
if that's something that interests you.
But like I said, they'll be a lot of ways
that you can get involved
and I'll link that all in the description.
Thank you so much for watching.
I hope this gave some of you out there who are hurting
just a little glimmer of hope,
and know that you're in our thoughts and prayers.