PTSD Treatment With MeRT

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, can occur when a person has experienced or witnessed traumatic life events. It can also be triggered when someone has gone through extended periods of severe stress. PTSD can occur right after the traumatizing event or can be triggered years later.

Some people that experience extreme trauma recover without incident. However, for others, the symptoms of PTSD continue for months or years, and in some cases, they can get worse, leading to negative coping mechanisms or other mental health conditions.

Many factors can contribute to PTSD other than the trauma itself. If you have experienced multiple traumas in your life, or if you have a personal or family history of mental illness such as depression/anxiety, then you may be at higher risk.

The most common situations that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder include combat exposure, military service, working as a first responder, sexual or physical assault, childhood abuse, an accident, or any other life-threatening trauma such as a fire or a plane crash.

Examples of symptoms:

• Depression, negative outlook
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Flashbacks to the event
• Inability to sleep or repeated nightmares about the traumatic event
• Avoiding people, places, or events that remind you of the trauma
• Difficulty concentrating/memory problems
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Feelings of numbness
• Changes in temperament that include anger and rage
• Engaging in self-destructive behavior
• Hyper-alertness to sounds
• Being easily startled
• Physical and emotional reactions to loud noises, etc.
• Thoughts of suicide, attempts at suicide

In many cases of PTSD, we find that MeRT protocols are the most effective. You can read more about what the treatment entails here.