I have PTSD and there's only a couple things that help with it, one can't be mentioned here, another is alcohol, but the prescription medications are just awful and have lots of side effects that just make someone worse. You can't go wrong when you go holistic.

I still say and will always conclude that cause of the stress needs to be dealt with . Not just piecing the person back together , the initial stress causing situation or stress causing person has to be fixed . War zone or work place , people snap when having their buttons pushed . The whole going postal some years back could of used this and probably had some say in the research as well as the Vets .

I deal with PTSD daily and have for twenty-seven years. And, as far as "cures" and "treatments" go, I've been down just about every road available. I've been prescribed SSRI's, benzodiazapines, atypical antipsychotics, over the counter herbal remedies (such as St. Johns Wort), taught self hypnosis and biofeedback, and NONE of it works worth a damn.

My life is basically narrowed down, these days, to "power through and take as little Xanax as possible (I do have a legit prescription)".

The idea of an instant remedy, especially of the type discussed seems surreal and highly unnatural. But, having said that, if my doctors were to suggest it, I think I would seriously consider the option.

It'd be nice to sleep for an entire night for a change.

Just my .02 cents.

~Heff

Originally posted by watchdog8110
I still say and will always conclude that cause of the stress needs to be dealt with . Not just piecing the person back together , the initial stress causing situation or stress causing person has to be fixed . War zone or work place , people snap when having their buttons pushed . The whole going postal some years back could of used this and probably had some say in the research as well as the Vets .

1. Too many people simply do not understand PTSD.
I have PTSD and deal with it every day. I will for the rest of my life.
PTSDis a response to a learned experience, and cannot be " cured".
TSD isn't a virus.

2. Beings ( animal and man) all experience PTSD.
It's a survival mechanism, designed to keep us alive.
Once we experience a seriously traumatic situation our brain litterally forms new neural pathways that ilicit a "Danger/Fear" response in us, to prevent us from foolishly re-entering that dangerous situation again.
In other words:
Our brain makes us fear the situation that caused so much trauma and causes us to feel a real response to any thoughts of the traumatic event.

I personally feel PTSD is mis-named and mistreated.
It's a natural response to traumatic and dangerous situations, meant to keep us alive.
PTSD can only be dealt with and treated, it cannot be "cured".


.

Any attempts by medical researchers to de-sensitize people through drugs is all well and good from their perspective to fix an issue . Some people are wired differently and respond just as differently than someone else would in a similar situation . Would core values that a person was raised in play a part as to who would be more likely to suffer from tragic situations , possible .

Conditioning of people prior to sending them into battle to change their way of thinking via through propaganda in the news be seen as a small part of dealing with PTSD ? Maybe , maybe not , but if we are all dropped into a mass traumatic situation . The mess it would have created , well I cannot even begin to count the number of people that would be in the same boat with those in the direct firing lines or indirect lines . The media sources have to take some responsibility other than saying our report contains graphic material .

Does there really need to be images of mangled bodies causing a shock and awe effect for ratings . No , yet it still happens in some form of conditioning , I suspect . Really though the people who cannot deal with death and destruction being called wimps/babies is not justified , it is easy for those not subjected it to write it off so easily for their well being . Embedding reporters into war zones only aggravate matters when they distract soldiers from their focus on the task at hand . As far as my opinion goes anyway .

yes while people's moral upbringing/compas will obviously affect what types of events cause PTSD, we can all experience it.
You can surely raise a stone cold sociopathic killer who won't feel a thing, but you can't train a soldier not to "feel" in a few weeks of Basic Training.

Shock scenes from the media have nothing to do with it, they are a weak substitute for the real thing.

Tough soldiers can experience PTSD.
I have worked selling equipment to Federal LEO depts, and have trained them in it's use, and I'm as tough as anyone.
All that training means nothing.

I experienced a VERY traumatic situation, where my perception of theway things were was shaken to it's very core........and after many years, I cannot get the very vivid scenes from my thoughts.
Every day, every night, every minute of every day.
I have to occupy my thoughts, as the memories of the experience have become ny "background" thoughts.
They are always there, and I have to TRY to think of other things to get them out of my head.

I can only guess that any "drugs" would attempt to numb the thoughts, and IMHO, that's like drinking away your problems.
It just doesn't work that way.

Sounds like these guys just do not understand PTSD at all.

.

The treatment of PTSD thru drugs rarely has positive outcomes. I have a very close friend that deals with this daily, and I have watched him be prescribed various medications to treat him. Most of the drugs either cause serious side effects, or make you a zombie....In my friends case at least, the best thing he is able to do is talk about the things he feels with people he trust. Sometimes it takes a while for him to relax, but at least the rest of his day isn't wasted being a zombie. Drugs are just the wrong way to go for PTSD (in most cases, but not all).

Would hunters have a better coping mechanism than someone who has not ? Skinning a deer is different than skinning a bear , a lost friend of mine described skinning a bear is like skinning a person . Somehow it never really felt that way to me , but since having been raised around relatives that took the life of an animal for food on the farm . Plus having taken Taxidermy did not make it all that tragic or traumatizing . Gutting fish where you have to get your hands in there , it was what needed to be done to feed yourself .

Day in day out working on a kill floor of a slaughter house surely has some effects on those people .

Chopping the head off a chicken for food at the supper table is quite different than chopping the head off another human being that's in a whole different league of it's own . The personal connection one makes as part of a functioning team , I can understand why not making a friend would make it easier for some . WWII for example how soldiers relayed that not getting to close to someone helped them get through part of the pain when loosing a fellow soldier .

They deserve all the respect for what they had to endure .

Originally posted by watchdog8110
Would hunters have a better coping mechanism than someone who has not ? Skinning a deer is different than skinning a bear , a lost friend of mine described skinning a bear is like skinning a person . Somehow it never really felt that way to me , but since having been raised around relatives that took the life of an animal for food on the farm . Plus having taken Taxidermy did not make it all that tragic or traumatizing . Gutting fish where you have to get your hands in there , it was what needed to be done to feed yourself .

Day in day out working on a kill floor of a slaughter house surely has some effects on those people .

Chopping the head off a chicken for food at the supper table is quite different than chopping the head off another human being that's in a whole different league of it's own . The personal connection one makes as part of a functioning team , I can understand why not making a friend would make it easier for some . WWII for example how soldiers relayed that not getting to close to someone helped them get through part of the pain when loosing a fellow soldier .

They deserve all the respect for what they had to endure .

edit on 14-12-2011 by watchdog8110 because: (no reason given)

Having a "Hunting Culture" background would be a factor in battle related PTSD, however, PTSD is not limited to the battlefield.
Im an avid Hunter and Fisherman.

My PTSD has absolutelynothing to do with war, a military tour or anything like that.
It had to do with a very personal traumatic experience.
It was not a "physical situation" that caused my PTSD.


Again PTSD is a natural response to danger that has helped us evolve and survive as a species.

You ever see a hunting dog become "Gun shy"?
It's PTSD telling them to avoid that loud noise at all costs.
Thier brains have developed new neural pathways that cause a fear/flight/fight response whenever they are around a similar situation.
If traumatic enought they spend their lives being cautious of anything that resembles the cause of the trauma, even obsessing on avoiding it.

I wish Doctors would look at PTSD from this perspective.