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Have you or a loved one suffered a trauma?
Still having anxiety and flashbacks? It may be PTSD.

Feeling afraid during a traumatic event is a normal biological response. Your fight, flight, or freeze mechanism for survival kicks into gear and your actions may not even be conscious decisions on how to get to a safe place. Some people come out of emergent situations with little to no lasting effects, but others who continue to experience symptoms may be feeling the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

The traumatic situations can be one of many different types.  A car accident, witnessing a loved one almost die or be hurt, being in a war and seeing others hurt, being in a war zone and hearing the bombs near or far explode repeatedly, being a victim of domestic violence or having survived an abusive childhood, surviving cancer and those treatments, a head injury, learning of a threat to a loved one, and being involved in dangerous crime or accident scenes or investigating them all are examples of just how many different ways PTSD can occur.   

Have you or your loved one been dealing with any of the below for a month or longer?  If the symptoms are occurring within the first month after the incident it can still be a problem needing professional help, but it is called acute stress disorder.  
  • Intrusive thoughts including involuntary memories and disruptive dreams and/or flashbacks. Flashbacks may be so vivid that people feel they are re-living the traumatic experience or seeing it before their eyes.
  • Avoiding circumstances similar to the trauma (not driving after having an auto accident), resisting talking about what happened or feelings about it, and avoiding thinking about the event.
  • Negative thoughts and feelings that may be ongoing and distorted beliefs about oneself or others, ongoing fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame; much less interest in activities previously enjoyed; or feeling detached or estranged from others.
  • Arousal and reactive symptoms like being irritable and having angry outbursts, being easily startled, having difficulty sleeping, or behaving recklessly or in a self-destructive way.
If any the above sounds like you or a loved one, it's time to see a professional for an evaluation. There IS help. Psychotherapy,  cognitive behavior therapy, EMDR, EFT, music therapy, and mindfulness therapies can help you learn to control panic and anxiety and heal the traumatic response to the incident. I offer virtual therapy in most cases but in the event of trauma work, on a case-by-case basis, a care plan will be established together and may include in-person sessions.
“Trauma is personal. It does not disappear if it is not validated. When it is ignored or invalidated the silent screams continue internally heard only by the one held captive. When someone enters the pain and hears the screams healing can begin.” 
​
― Danielle Bernock, Emerging with Wings: A True Story of Lies, Pain, and the Love That Heals
Did you know?
Music Therapy can help those with PTSD. There have been a number of studies done that show that music therapy as a therapeutic intervention facilitates healing by reducing symptoms and improving functioning among individuals with trauma exposure and PTSD. Would you like more information? Click here!

Car Accidents

Military
​Many people who have had a car accident develop post-traumatic stress symptoms that can become chronic. The triggers may be any number of things from driving or being a passenger, certain roads or types of vehicles, the scene of the accident or other details firmly imprinted in the memory of the person. Given our culture and how pervasive motor vehicle travel is in most of our lives, it is of no surprise that the statistics show that a quarter of our population will be involved in an accident with serious injuries at some point in our lifetime. Traffic accidents have become the leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the Vietnam war. It is estimated that 9 percent of survivors of serious accidents develop significant post-traumatic stress symptoms and that many other survivors have PTSD-like reactions.

Unfortunately there are some individuals who also have concussions due to auto accidents, and these can be overlooked as there may not be symptoms that can be seen at the time paramedics are on the scene.  For more information click here.
Today, hundreds of thousands of service men and women and military veterans have seen combat. Many have been shot at, seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are types of events that can lead to PTSD.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts:
  • Almost 31 percent of Vietnam veterans
  • As many as 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans (other sources suggest this number is closer to 24 percent)
  • 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan (other sources suggest the rate combined with Iraqi veterans may be as high as 30 percent)
  • 20 percent of Iraqi war veterans

In addition to PTSD, clinical findings are now showing that there may be physical changes that occur within the brain after certain types of trauma. In providing care I also consider the potential of an mTBI as I specialize in TBI, both acquired and traumatic.  For more information on that, click here.
source credit to: www.medineplus.gov

Post-Cancer Diagnosis

Doctors are now increasingly aware that PTSD involves people who have been exposed to stressors related to cancer and its treatments. The cancer diagnosis is given, the treatment plan is defined and followed, and a period of recovery has been achieved, yet the brain is stuck. Previously innocent moments may now cause a host of symptoms ranging from bad memories to a quickening of the pulse and breathlessness. These new triggers can be from something as small as a song, a smell, or even a tiny package of graham crackers or saltines (as are frequently handed out in labs/chemo rooms in hospitals). The symptoms highlighted above may be present, if that is the case, qualified mental health professionals are able to not only listen and help you process your emotions, but they are able to guide you through a process of healing. For more information about how Cancer can affect the brain, click here.

Childhood Trauma

If, as a child, you or a loved one experienced a disturbing event or series of events you may have a chronic form of PTSD today.  During childhood symptoms are often nightmares about it, sleep difficulty, prolonged bed wetting, or separation anxiety you may have been experiencing PTSD.  Adolescents with PTSD may display self-destructive behavior and guilt. Adults who have had childhood trauma and subsequent PTSD can be significantly more likely to have anxiety and depression as well as more suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts during their lifetime than those who have experienced no trauma. Additionally, there are clinical findings showing there may be physical changes in the brains of people who have had childhood trauma and PTSD. Because I specialize in TBI, I stay on top of current research on this topic and there is help, and hope, available. For more information on TBI, click here.

PTSD Articles

As a way to help support clients, Dr. Sikora has written a number of articles throughout the years and still publishes a blog currently. She is an avid researcher and shares her expertise in an insightful way to provide new data and/or a different perspective to help others move forward. Below are a some articles she's written related to PTSD.
The Many Faces of Abuse
Cancer treatments are over, but are you all better?
The Art of Kintsugi
Hope, a reminder for all