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@KwanYingirl They barely mentioned it. "Many PTSD-afflicted soldiers experience “hyper-arousal,” which the center staff treats with techniques like medical massage and “Reiki,” a Japanese stress-reduction technique. Acupuncture has proven to be “extremely effective” in treating the anxiety...

FYI: I ran across an article on how the US Army is using Reiki as part of an approach to soldiers with PTSD. It's more holistic than most, includes all sorts of things. Probably take longer for civilians to do, if for no other reason than we can't typically dedicate 40 hours a week. But it...

I have never tried accupuncture, but it has been suggested to me. Maybe I'll be able to fit it in my budget. I'm trained in Reiki (Okuden, "Level II") and have used it on myself (I do not have a practice; I'm a computer geek by profession). I can echo what was said above; there are many...

I hate to ask this, but I notice you're in the US? Are you using government insurance of some form (including VA/Military)? If that's the case, you'll need to find an advocate of some form to help with the impenetrable bureaucracy. VA & Military has advocates; don't have a clue where other...

This is typically code, kinda like when women say "he's such a nice guy" they mean "there's nothing wrong with him, I'm just not attracted to him". It typically means something like "With it/together; knows how to raise a good family." Someone like this guy is probably more interested in your...

Crazy, no; difficult, yes. In the US it will take more than 10 years before you will graduate and be able to "work in the field", putting you at retirement age. You can do related work before hand; and overseas it's more like 4 years (I believe the first-professional degree in counselling...

I feel you. My first memories of being abused come no earlier than when I was 7 or 8. I was almost out of therapy when my mother ran across a picture that I drew in kindergarten, a self-portrait (just color in the lines sort of thing). The way this picture was drawn ... well, it didn't take a...

(If this belongs in a different section, please feel free to move it). I've been studying meditation for a long time now, but I have a problem with consistency. Well, the consistency problem is with many, many things actually, but right now I'm focusing on Meditation. Does anyone else find...

Re-Triggers are tough to deal with. I've been told it can be done, but I've never done it myself. If Reiki helps, then go back for another session. Or more. There are some meditations/visualizations that you can be given as well; I can't say whether your Reiki practioner will know them or be...

I haven't had those types of nightmares in a long time -- since I was a young child -- but I still remember vividly. They suck. I've had the fear that I'm going to hurt someone for a very long time; it was something that my Therapist was confused about. And my Martial Arts instructor. I'm not...

Just as an FYI, C/PTSD is not a formal diagnosis. It's a term "we" (suferer's and therapists) use to distinguish between traumas. If it was repetetive or complicated, you can probably use the term. My formal diagnosis is PTSD; I say C/PTSD because the root trauma was repetitive sexual abuse as a...

The old Adams Family quote: "Normal is an illusion. What's normal for the Spider is Chaos for the Fly."

Can I use that quote? It's really good! So we can learn to feel again? Most of the time I'm still emotionally numb, though I do use music to connect when I realize that something's going on. Still, I haven't cried since High School ... which was more than 30 years ago. I mean, I let a tear...

The problem is that they have nothing to build a mental model out of. I can hear that whenever someone uses the old familiar phrase "they just need to suck it up!". To be politically incorrect, it's kinda like PMS. As a Man I really have nothing similar (as far as I know) to build a model of...

I should probably mention that one of my coping mechanisms is learning: I learn everything I can, especially if it seems it might help. I suspect I'm not the only one ...

Re: Hypnosis. There is something I should mention, though perhaps it really belongs somewhere else(?). Self-Hypnosis induces the hypnotic state differently than Other-Hypnosis. Self-Hypnosis uses relaxation to enter the deeper state; when hypnotizing someone else I have to overload them. This...

It was quite some time before I realized that I had been having flaskbacks. Growing up all the TV shows had flashbacks that were "dramatic" -- the person thought they were somewhere else and couldn't interact with reality. I didn't know of Emotional Flashbacks, but eventually I realized that I...

Hi Dale, I work around Combat Vets, many of which have PTSD, and this has been very good for me. That said, there is a certain level of comfort/trust inherent in talking to those that share similar experiences. Welcome aboard. (Or something like that)

This may be off in left field, but can you imagine "calm strength"? Or is "anger == strong" for you? Using a more esoteric visualization, can you see yourself as a Mountain in that type of situation? Or only "Raging River" or "Roaring Fire" (two different types of anger)? ("No matter how hard...

I did EMDR for my therapy, as well as visualizations. I'm also a trained Hypnotist. Visualization, for what it's worth, is a form self-hypnosis. EMDR doesn't need memories, necessarily, just something to work with. One possibility is to focus on your flashbacks and see where your mind wanders...

I remember going to an amusement park a few years ago with friends. I went on a ride with one of my friends, and after getting off the other remarked how much I enjoyed that ride -- that she'd never seen me enjoy myself so much before. I looked at the picture the park took of me on the ride...

Hello, I'm Toranoko. I was diagnosed with PTSD a little more than a decade ago. My trigger was graduate school -- I literally forgot that I was supposed to be attending a class. That stuff only happens in nightmares, right? I was sexually abused by a woman at a very young age. My first...