Does Robert Have Severe PTSD as Expressed?

[anthony]

Below is a youtube video I found that demonstrates the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) being used. My problem is this... I know what signs and characteristics are displayed by anyone who has severe PTSD, even when trauma is healed. In this video, it is expressed that Robert "believes" his PTSD is severe. I am watching this video and honestly I struggle to believe this person has anything more than some anxiety... because any sufferer with severe PTSD / PTSD... their physical characteristics will be a shaking leg, likely hard to sit still, they will not look the therapist in the eye, etc etc... even when trauma is healed and you relearn social skills, this person is far too calm IMO to have severe PTSD. It is my belief that this is more staged to demonstrate a technique, which is all garbage because no technique works this fast. Actually... it is quite vastly different. When EMDR, EFT, etc etc is delivered, the patient should actually get worse by the end of it if delving into trauma for the first time, second time, etc... until such time as the trauma has been dealt with fully and accepted by the patient. Yes, a SUDS level is often reduced with more talking or therapy before the person leaves the office as a therapist knows it is dangerous to let a patient out of their office so highly traumatized. So they attempt to reduce the SUDS level, which will increase rapidly over the next day or two as more memories and thought is given to the trauma.

This is my opinion on this video... what is yours? Please be independent to my opinion... as this is just my perception.

[youtube]BEOq0EoHR4Y[/youtube]

 

[Tinyflame]

Well, if Robert's" got PTSD then I don't know what I have.

I don't believe that would work for me, at all. Not to mention he's talking about everything with no emotion- nothing physical or even in his voice.
And he's says he "slept better"- no way, I would be up for a week just saying it.

What struck me is at the beginning he said that when he has terrible intrusive memories and he does anything to forget them. When I have terrible intrusive memories I can't get "out" of them. If I could forget them it wouldn't be the problem it is. They don't feel like a "memory" they feel like "now". Let alone insomnia, depression, guilt, avoidance, night sweats and throw in an occassional flashback and my body falling apart. Compared to Robert I'm a nervous wreck and I don't even consider myself high on the hyper-vigilance scale.

Not to mention if someone tried to touch me like that when I was trying to talk about it I'd either be across the room in 2 seconds flat or deck them if they came at me like that, I don't care how much I "knew it was coming".

I know virtually nothing but I sure would say it sounds to me too like he has more issues with anxiety, proper. I wouldn't buy in to their therapy watching that.

 

[fin]

HI I saw this before signing in just now, and I can say the anxiety at the time it took to sign in was higher than anything this guy is talking about with the kid with the grenade....an hour of trying to sort Yahoo and I wanted to scream (more than scream) and that is coming from me today after I thought I was relativiely chilled out...although I could feel it kicking in and heightening an hour ago so..

ok so I lost it again-the film, that'll serve me right trying to get the matted knots out of my hair while watching it I guess.

I thought the guy looked so laid back it wasn't funny, and while I do the agitation thing some, 9ok more than some...even chilled) when I am calm and sitting relaxed-ish I am still totally nailed down and almost rigid with tension. ...so it is swings and roundabouts..was he heavily sedated maybe..although he didnt speak like he was.

It is kind of difficult to get into it because while I know what I am like I have very little idea about what someone else is like-ish....having not met any one else in the same boat...but he didnt even look like he had anxiety to me...but hey what do I know. I would hate to think that someone else was judging me...but I do think the therapist looked more anxious than the client...am I talking crap now?


no I dont think he fitted what I would consider to be severe of anything except perhaps nonchalance....(and I dont think I spelt that right)...again I dont want to judge because I have been so judged all my life...funily though not generally because of the pTSD...

~fin

oh and I am pretty much with junebug on what she said....me too.

scary real scary....people buy into this yes?

and what suds scale is he measured on?...wow!!!

 

[Claire]

I dont buy it either. He seems too relaxed although I only have my own behaviour to go on. To sit there so still and look at the therapist the whole time while retelling the story that at one point he says reaches an '8' just doesn't seem true.

I dislike the therapist too. Cant quite tell you why but I dont like him. His body language.

The only thing that might be different is that this guys trauma is 30 years old, so maybe IF he has severe PTSD maybe after all that time he's got good at hiding it!

 

[fin]

you know before I "freaked" I was pretty good at hiding it but this guy deserves an oscar

I am wondering how this is ok to put out there....?

even my dog who has some anxiety issues sometimes is more tightly wound than this guy...and my dog walks around barepawed on grass!!! (she is pretty grounded) and my cat too....

I am sorry I am thinking I am now letting open a floodgate of judgement, maybe he is really really disconnected...but even so...

Maybe he could be the poster guy for after its "cured"...the next in the series wow!!!

You know I have some anger coming out on this...wtf??? And now I know I will have to go off and work more (-crap!!!) to try to figure out why I am feeling a little pissed at this.

And it isn't that I am jealous or anything...I get happy to see people do well...


I think it is because I think it is VERY deceptive (on some level, actually all levels I think) and there is too much of that in the world today, it worries me because someone watching this that doesn't know could think anything but educatedly after seeing this.

(ok I don't think that made sense but hey!!)

 

[2quilt]

Nope, this is not real. I would be above a 3 before I entered the room. I would be crying and just a mess. I have done EMDR, but I never have gotten to a zero. Robert seems too controlled, no sadness, just the facts, too calm to have PTSD.

I don't like the therapist either. He seems like a used car salesman. I don't know what was reason and motivation for putting this video online; is the therapist selling himself to potential clients with his therapy video sales pitch? I would not trust this therapist.

I hope that the therapist does not lure anyone into his office with the "promise" of curing PTSD with this video. Real EMDR videos would scare off anyone with PTSD who was considering that specific therapy because it really is difficult, painful, and I sure as hell did not have 'the best night's sleep I had had in years' (That is pure BS) but rather I was unable to live a normal life for 2 days afterward because EMDR really makes me sad and disrupts my entire life for 2 days afterward. Talking about the details of one's trauma is painful. It is considered to be the best therapy by my therapist, but it is very painful.

Now, once I can get back into my life routine days after an EMDR session, I can and do think about the trauma with more stable, clearer thoughts, as simple facts, without as much tremendous emotion as before EMDR.

This video is a sham.

 

[DrDanger1979]

After reading the above posts I began wondering if I have PTSD. The I watched the video. I am very tightly controlled. I hate losing control. But when I do, it's not pretty. Just last night, in an effort to find an outlet without hurting someone, since I almost did twice earlier that day, I spent some time on a heavy bag. It hit the ceiling.
Even with memories returning, in very tiny pieces, flashbacks of the pain & fear (had only one recently where the pain/fear coincided with a memory of an event), my mind locks down. When I speak with my therapist I am fairly matter of fact. But I would never let her get that close to me. Much less touch me. When I leave I am a mess. I basically cannot allow another human to see it.
So no way does that man have PTSD. I have been called very logical. He makes me look like a basket case.

 

[teejaye]

Was the phrase the client was instructed to repeat, "I forgive myself this 'kid' emotion?" If so, my initial reaction is that I am insulted by any reaction to a traumatic event being labeled a "kid" emotion. But I could be jumping the gun.

If this therapy works, it sounds amazing and wonderful. I just can't shake the feeling that I might, if I were the client, claim to be at a "zero" in order to get that therapist to stop tapping me in the face.

One other point I want to make is that the therapist seems so cavalier, sitting slouched a bit with his legs clearly in the client's personal space. I would not appreciate that as a client. Maybe it doesn't matter to Robert, but I know I would feel like scooting my chair back about 10 feet.

 

[teejaye]

Oh, and no I don't think Robert has PTSD. I believe he survived horrible experiences, and so he may very well suffer from mild posttraumatic stress disorder, or perhaps some symptoms of PTSD ... but not enough to meet the diagnostic criteria.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Ahhh, No.

I'm only going on what I know about PTSD based on my own experiences. I haven't known anyone else with PTSD.

I don't think that he has "severe" PTSD.

If he had "severe" PTSD don't you think that given his situation with a boy approaching him with a grenade, that his therapist approaching him like that would cause at least SOME anxiety? He doesn't even flinch or show any signs of being uncomfortable with the therapist so close to him, oftentimes in his personal space.

I know that I HATE to have people near me and I would probably freak out if somebody started tapping on me like that! I would be through the roof.

I think its a sham. PTSD can't be cured that fast. If it could, there would be no need for websites like this. (No offense Anthony!) We would all be cured by now!

I have my next therapist session on Monday. I think I'll ask her to start tapping on me to see if I can be cured, too! haha

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

I think the video was made up. I've been practicing EFT for almost a year and I do it everyday. I work on something different almost everyday because I work on what surfaces that day. There are days that I scream out loud when I do it, and there are days I don't feel too much anxiety and it's resolved before the end of the technique. I do all spots starting from my eyebrow to tapping my hand and singing happy birthday and then counting.

I was able to rid myself of severe Acid Reflux down to mild Acid Reflux using EFT. But the anxiety, triggers, flashbacks and the freaken thing that I can't explain in words, that is trapped in my body, which takes on a life of its own is the worst.

One thing that crossed my mind about Robert being able to speak about the kid and grenade issue and not showing anxiety is that when I was "shut off" or "in denial" way back in my drinking days. I would not acknowledge any trauma, and I did tell a therapist about being raped in detail. I stated the facts as if it happened to someone else. I showed no emotion and was able to block the anxiety. I can't do this every time I'm asked to tell about it, but there have been occasions I was able to.

I think I've practiced EFT enough times on the rape issue that I could do it in front of a camera and not show to much emotion. But if the therapist were to start touching me, then that is whole other issue of EFT I would need to work on.

Tammy

 

[sky dancer]

Anthony--

I have a friend who swears by this technique. I purchased the dvds on her recommendation and found that I did not benefit from the technique. Instead of 'borrowing benefits' as they say someone will who watches these vids and taps along--I was re-triggered.

I put these on the shelf.

I've gotten better results using a technique called Focusing that is taught by Eugene Gendlin. The outline can be downloaded from the Focusing website.

I'm with you on this EFT business.

Dorothy