- Hey everybody,
today we're going to address six misconceptions
about post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
And I've been doing my best to talk more about PTSD
and the effects of it because my new book, "Traumatized"
is available for pre-order now
and it comes out September 7th.
It is my hope that by talking more about trauma,
we reduce the stigma associated with it
and those struggling will more quickly reach out
for professional help because it can and will get better.
Now, I'm touching on these misconceptions top level,
but to understand this deeper and really find solutions,
I strongly recommend doing your own research on this topic.
I break trauma down a lot deeper in my new book.
Okay, now let's jump into these misconceptions,
starting with number one.
The most common misconception is that only soldiers
or people who've gone to war can develop PTSD.
It is also assumed that all trauma leads to PTSD
and I'll talk about this later so stay tuned,
but while it is true that the diagnosis
and treatment of PTSD was born out of research
that only happened because men were returning from war
with what they at the time called shell shock,
and they didn't understand what was going on
and why the soldiers who were physically healthy
were unable to continue serving
so they hired a psychologist to figure it out
and they coined the term post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, like most research into a new concept,
this was just the beginning
and we now know that anyone who is traumatized
can develop symptoms of PTSD.
To ensure we are all on the same page
about what being traumatized means I define the term trauma,
and I'm just pulling this from my book, by the way,
as anything that happens to you or someone else
that is too much for your brain to process at the moment.
Even considering that definition,
I hope we can all see just how common trauma is
and how it definitely occurs in more places
than just war zones.
The second misconception is that everyone
who has been traumatized will have PTSD.
Now, while many people who have been through a trauma
will develop symptoms of PTSD, that's not always the case.
In fact, many of my patients have lamented to me
about the fact that their siblings aren't as effected
by the shared childhood trauma.
Sometimes we can find ourselves being crippled by it
while our brother, for example, doesn't seem upset at all
and this is because of our level of resilience,
which is really just our brain's ability to bounce back
after something upsetting or overwhelming happens
and unfortunately, some of us are just born
with more or less than others.
We can be more adept at asking for and getting support.
Maybe we just naturally have more healthy coping skills
that we pull from right away instead of waiting
until we feel really bad,
or perhaps we have never known how to cope
and always shut down and isolate when we're upset,
we will all have our own natural ability
to weather life storms but the good news
is that we can do things to build up our resilience.
These are things like getting enough sleep,
eating regularly, going to therapy
and building up our support system with friends
and mental health professionals.
There is so much we can do to care for ourselves
so that we aren't as vulnerable to terrifying events
and are better able to manage any PTSD symptoms
that may pop up.
The third misconception is that people with PTSD
are violent and dangerous.
Now this one loosely ties into my next misconception,
but being traumatized can deeply affect us,
make us more impulsive, easily upset,
and we can lash out at those we love,
however, violent behavior isn't always part
of the symptoms of PTSD.
In the DSM or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders it only mentions violent behavior under
marked alterations in arousal and reactivity
associated with the traumatic event,
beginning or worsening after the traumatic event occurred
as evidenced by two or more of the following items
where it lists six things.
One of which is one out of those six is irritable behavior
and angry outbursts with little or no provocation
typically expressed as verbal or physical aggression
toward people or objects,
meaning that many people with PTSD
will not have that symptom
because everyone's experience with PTSD
is going to be different.
I've had patients who withdraw from everyone
and feel better when they are alone
and I've had others who feel okay when at home,
and if they have to go out to the grocery store
then they're jumpy on edge and dissociating constantly.
And many of you've told me that your biggest struggle
is to not do self-destructive things or try to numb out
with drugs, alcohol, or even self-injurious behavior.
And I only offer those examples so that you know that
not everyone with PTSD is going to act the same.
Just like everything in life,
we will all have our own way of coping
and we'll experience some of the symptoms that others don't.
Moving right along to our fourth misconception
that those with PTSD are just weak.
Now, whether or not we develop the symptoms of PTSD
is based on quite a few factors
like our level of resilience as we discussed earlier
or the intensity of the trauma
and whether or not the traumatic event
was a single instance or repeated.
Now, each of these factors are very important
and each one can affect our ability to cope,
it has nothing to do with whether we are strong or not.
In fact, strength has nothing to do with our mental health
by the way, it's more about what tools we have
to help us feel okay and connected
and many of us who have been traumatized
did not grow up with healthy adults around us
to show us how to cope,
no one was there to demonstrate how to vent to a friend
about an upset or mentioned that they need some time alone
to take a long bath because they had a tough day.
We aren't weak, we just had some shitty things happen to us,
it overwhelmed our nervous system
and we need some support to work through it.
Not to mention that surviving a traumatic event
takes a lot of mental strength and asking for help
and doing therapeutic work is really hard
so I would actually argue that those with PTSD
are extremely strong.
The fifth misconception is that PTSD
will just go away if we give it enough time.
Now, this assumption is so frustrating as a therapist
because I know that the sooner we speak up
and get professional help,
the sooner we will start feeling better.
I talk about why treating this as important
in my final tip coming next,
but giving something more time without getting proper help
can actually make it worse.
We can develop behaviors and thought patterns
that only harm us and our relationships,
in a way it's like the issues just fester
and grow into more areas of our life making it harder
and harder for us to do all we need to do each day.
Now I know it isn't comfortable or easy to reach out
and speak up about our past trauma
but trust me when I tell you that
the sooner we do the better,
we've even had a few members of our community
who are already in therapy go through
another traumatizing situation and they've messaged me
letting me know that it was much easier to move past
this most recent trauma because they already had support
and they opened up about it right away.
So even if you don't take my word for it,
take the word of others who have been through it too.
And finally, our sixth misconception
that PTSD can't be treated.
Now, I personally haven't heard that it can't be treated,
but I do hear a lot of people online saying that
even with treatment, it never gets better.
And here's what I have to say about that,
in doing research for my book,
I found out that traditional talk therapy
meaning you go to therapy and you talk through your trauma
in as much detail as possible
until it's no longer emotionally upsetting to do,
that style isn't enough for all trauma victims.
In fact, in Van der Kolk's book, "The Body Keeps The Score"
it's a great book, but he explains that talk therapy
isn't enough for almost 60% of patients with PTSD.
60%, that blew my mind because talk therapy
was what we were taught in graduate school
as being the primary treatment for PTSD, wild
but what Van der Kolk states is that
most patients need something additional
in order to achieve full remission of their PTSD symptoms.
These additional things are things like EMDR,
schema therapy, somatic experiencing,
and I've even looked into other treatments
still being researched like vagus nerve stimulation
or VNS treatment and stellate ganglion block,
all of which have research supporting their effectiveness
in the treatment of PTSD and other mental illnesses.
Even my good friend, Dr. Alexa Altman
is currently part of research into psilocybin,
which derives from magic mushrooms,
and how that can aid those suffering from PTSD as well.
So in conclusion, I hope you know that PTSD
is something that can be overcome, we can recover
and yes I know it's hard and it sucks
that we even have to work through it
but trust me, I've seen it with my own eyes,
you can work through your past trauma
and live a life free from the symptoms of PTSD.
Thank you so much for watching.
If you are wanting more information about PTSD,
you can check out the playlist on the screen
and don't forget to order my book, "Traumatized" today.
Also feel free to leave any other misconceptions
in the comments down below and I will see you next time.
Bye.
(upbeat music)