My Boyfriend Has PTSD and is Cold and Distant

A very common complaint among those who love someone who has PTSD is that they can turn from warm and loving to cold and distant very quickly. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say, “My boyfriend has PTSD and has pushed me away.”  How do you deal with loving someone who seemingly wants nothing to do with you a lot of the time? How do you keep yourself sane?

Many PTSD relationships do not survive for a variety of reasons. Communication is always essential in any type of relationship, but when one partner has post traumatic stress there is additional pressure on the relationship. One party may not be willing or able to communicate his or her needs when symptoms arise. They naturally withdraw and can become verbally abusive and distant.  It is not uncommon for someone who is suffering through PTSD symptoms to behave irrationally and leave for a few days. It is also normal to completely shut out family, relationships, and the people who are trying to help them.

Cold and distant is a normal response for someone who has post traumatic stress. Often, this disorder robs the sufferer of all emotion, except for anger, sadness, and numbness. There is very little that you can do to help your loved one when this symptom arises. To not respect their wishes to be alone and isolated will result in conflict, which just makes everything worse. Of course you don’t just want to leave the person that you love alone, especially when they are suffering. That seems like the opposite of love. Sadly, at times, you don’t have a choice. Someone who is withdrawing will only run faster and harder away from you if you pursue them.

So, what do you do when this symptom arises? You go and do things that YOU want to do. You take a break. If this is not your first go around, you know that the request or demand to be alone comes frequently from those who have PTSD and can vary in duration. Sometimes they distance themselves for an afternoon and sometimes it can be days before you hear from your loved one. With PTSD, there is no rhyme or reason, but there are patterns.

You have to take care of yourself first. If you are being pushed away, go. Make a list of all of the things that you enjoy doing and when this symptom arises, go and do the things on your list. Set aside a little cash for this time, so that you can go and enjoy yourself. Plan for your time alone and do the things that you like to do.  This symptom will arise. It’s inevitable. It’s just a part of the disorder.

If you are being pushed away, take a little time for yourself. It doesn’t mean that you don’t love and care for that person nor does it mean that they no longer love and care for you. Don’t fall into the trap of guilt. There is nothing that you can do to help someone who wants space and distance. So, go help yourself. When you take care of yourself first, it shifts your perspective. It gives you some mental clarity and allows you to come back more refreshed and able to deal with the pressure of loving someone who has PTSD.

Are you in an abusive relationship with someone who has PTSD?

Are you in an abusive relationship with someone who has PTSD?

Many women are suffering through an abusive relationship with someone who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. As many are diagnosed with this disorder, those who live with them and love them find that they are the brunt of anger and frustration. Spouses and children often become targets of rage and abuse.

PTSD is a condition in which the sufferer has great difficulty controlling negative emotions like fear and rage. There are a whole host of symptoms that are associated with PTSD, but uncontrollable rage is one of the most damaging and dangerous. At times, one who has this disorder does not possess the coping skills necessary to control their anger and others often get hurt.

If you are in an abusive relationship with someone who has PTSD, you have to protect yourself. Simply put, you must remove yourself from the person, if possible. Many women choose to live in the same household with someone who is either mentally and/ or physically abusive. The risk of you getting hurt is very high and most single women who are able to walk away, do so. Relationships are built on trust. If you can’t trust that you are safe and are going to be treated well, the relationship will eventually end anyways. Do not allow yourself to be abused.  

If you are living with someone who has PTSD, love someone who has PTSD, or are struggling with PTSD, click here for help.

Sadly, spouses and children of PTSD sufferers end up suffering as well.  If you do not feel that you want to leave, you have to set some boundaries. You must point out the behavior and clearly spell out the consequences for certain behaviors. Obviously, timing is everything with this technique, but this discussion is valuable because it outlines the limitations of what you will and will not accept. If your significant other chooses to ignore your boundaries, you must follow through with your consequences. For example, if you tell him that you will leave, you must be prepared to leave.

Some women choose not to distance themselves, instead believing that things eventually will change for the better. While that can be true, you should know that you are in for a bumpy ride. Coping with a spouse’s PTSD means that you must develop the flexibility to deal with frequent mood changes, often irrational behavior, and uncontrollable rage.  It means that you develop a special set of coping skills of your own. It also means that you do what you have to do to protect yourself both physically and emotionally.

Having PTSD is not an excuse or a reason to abuse others. If you find yourself in an abusive relationship with someone who has PTSD, consider your options carefully. Educate yourself about this condition and make a plan of how you will deal with the constant changes. Above all, realize that your safety and well being are most important.   

My Husband Has PTSD And Is Not The Same

The number one complaint or comment made by military spouses these days is," My husband/ boyfriend is not the same man that left to go to war." The sad fact is that these spouses couldn't be more right. Many of our loved ones are not the same and will never be the same again. Post traumatic stress will take the strongest and most brave soldier and drag him or her into a whirlwind of symptoms that are difficult to understand and to conquer. These symptoms are often so severe that they will leave you wondering whom this person is, what in the world is wrong, and what can you possibly do to help?

The most important thing that you can do for yourself and to help your spouse, who may have post traumatic stress, is to educate yourself. You need to know what the symptoms are – not a checklist of words that sound bad but that you can’t relate to. You have to realize for yourself how this condition relates to your husband. You need to realize the possible risks of this disorder, and what to do about it.

It is true that your loved one is not the same and will never be the same person. He is forever changed. He may be in the middle of the biggest mental minefield imaginable. He may not even know what is happening to him. He may not be able to verbalize what is going on in his mind and in his body. He might not be able to ask for help.

Your loved one may be violent, angry, aggressive, isolating, drinking, doing drugs, threatening or seriously considering suicide. He could be going through flashbacks, nightmares, and not be able to sleep. Most PTSD suffers quickly find themselves frazzled and worn down to the point of giving up. These are symptoms that he is not going to verbalize to you, unless the problem is so blatantly obvious that he has no choice.

Post traumatic stress is a very serious disorder. Suicide rates of troops who are coming back from the sandboxes of Iraq and Afghanistan are off the chart. Our soldiers are coming back and killing themselves record numbers. So if your loved one has recently returned from a war zone, and your observation is that he is just not the same, look for signs and symptoms that may indicate post traumatic stress.

The number one thing that you can do to help someone who has PTSD, is to know what is happening with them and to be proactive. PTSD is a debilitating disorder, and those who have it often can’t even verbalize their experience at the time.

It is absolutely correct your husband is not the same and he's never going to be the same again, but there is hope for those who have PTSD. As a spouse, as someone who cares, first step is to get the concrete facts of what PTSD is, what the symptoms are, and how to deal with them. Secondly, you must formulate a plan of how you will react when the symptoms arise. Post traumatic stress does get better with time. People do recover and go on to live very happy, productive lives. There absolutely is hope, but recovery takes a lot of support and time.

If you're feeling that your loved one is “just not the same”, you are not alone. There are thousands of military wives that feel the exact same way that you feel. There is light at the end of the tunnel- you just have to know what you’re dealing with, and learn how to heal from it.

Game Boy, Anyone?

Recently, there have been a rash of news articles touting the benefits of playing Tetris for those who have PTSD. This study, which is about a year old, is based on showing a group of people movies with violent and disturbing scenes in them. The group was then divided into three sub groups. One group was sent home. One group was sent off to play Trivial Pursuit, and one group was sent off to play Tetris. Guess what? The Tetris group experienced fewer flashbacks.

I love theory!  Theoretically, watching a movie could produce flashbacks? Looking at violence in the comfort of a lab or an office can simulate the horrors that lead to PTSD?
Theoretically, watching disturbing images can TRAUMATIZE someone to the point of post traumatic stress?

No disrespect to the boys at Oxford U, but this is a great example of the many misguided attempts to define what PTSD truly is. You don't get PTSD because you watch a horror flick- you get PTSD because you survive a horror flick.

Now on to the good news. I believe that the science behind this idea is sound. If you look at it logically, those who have PTSD have many memory fragments, misplaced, and repressed memories. Someone who truly has PTSD experiences flashbacks and are triggered by sounds smells, sensations, and so on BECAUSE our memories are so fragmented that they can not be properly categorized. That is the biological basis for the disorder, or injury.... or whatever we are calling it today.

Tetris is a game of placing blocks into their proper slots on a board so that they all form a straight line. Isn't it brilliant that researchers found that by using our hand eye coordination to categorize digital blocks, that our brains would follow? I am sure that more research needs to be done on this, but it IS an interesting breakthrough. Aside from being a fun game that is available ( for free) on every smartphone platform there is, Tetris may turn out to be a useful tool that helps many PTSD sufferers greatly.

Have you played your Tetris today?

Do You Have Post Traumatic Stress Or PTSD?

There is a lot of talk in the news these days about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Who gets PTSD? How do they get it? Why do some people have this disorder and some seem to “bounce back” from trauma? Is there a gene that predetermines a person? Could it be hereditary? What is PTSD? What do you do about it? The questions and answers go on and on.

In trying to understand this issue, it is important to distinguish post traumatic stress from the disorder. Everyone who experiences trauma also experiences post traumatic stress symptoms. It is normal to be hyper vigilant, to have nightmares, to relive the event and to experience triggers that bring the trauma back to your mind. This is the brain’s natural way of dealing with trauma. In fact, it is such a natural response that if you don’t have at least one or two post traumatic stress symptoms, it wasn’t trauma.

Post traumatic stress becomes a disorder when the trauma is so severe that the brain can not process the event. Our bodies are so magnificently designed that the only thing that we cannot process is the threat and/or the sight of death coming at us. The natural symptoms that are a product of the brain coping with what has happened become magnified and overwhelming when  no healing is taking place. The brain only knows one way to heal and will repeat these tactics with more and more severity in an attempt to process the trauma and move on.

Post traumatic stress symptoms are our natural Band-Aid. They are there to help you to deal with what has happened to you, so that you can move on with your life. If your arm is blown off a Band-Aid is not going to help you. So someone who has experienced a traumatic event, may have a few nights of nightmares and not being able to sleep but ultimately find that things to go back to normal. The disorder (PTSD) will cause someone to not sleep for weeks and months and years at a time.

Trauma symptoms will keep you vigilant, but gradually you will be able to relax. Having PTSD means that you're always vigilant, night and day. It never turns off. Reliving the trauma and what you have experienced, in most cases, helps you to deal with it effectively so that you can move on with your life. Those who have PTSD relive their trauma 24 hours a day -day in and day out.

 In essence, the DISORDER part of PTSD is like living with a broken record that repeats the same line over and over again. So post traumatic stress symptoms, which are normal and very necessary to the healing process, enable you to get past your experience. PTSD occurs when the trauma is so great, or when the groove in the record is so deep, that mentally there is no way to cross over to the other side or to move on.

If you've experienced a trauma and are having symptoms it is always best to get help if you can. It is very difficult to deal with trauma by yourself. If you're experiencing symptoms that are so severe that they are consuming you, taking over your life, and your sanity; if you feel like you've become someone other then the person that you used to know, you may have PTSD.

What Is A PTSD DIagnosis?

What does a clinician look for in diagnosing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Are there any “telltale signs?” How do you know if someone is faking it?

In addition to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s formal criteria, there are certain things that a clinician looks for when making a PTSD diagnosis. Some initial symptoms of PTSD include being re-traumatized repeatedly due to intrusive thoughts and involuntary recollections. This means that the person replays the scene, or scenes over and over in their head whether they want to or not. This can be uncontrollable and it makes the person feel the same feelings of the event. 

  Reliving trauma brings up the same powerless, helpless, and terrified feelings as if the event were occurring in the present. This is such a powerful symptom that it can be overwhelming. Imagine living the worst moments of your life over and over in your head and not being able to turn that off.

  Nightmares and PTSD go hand in hand. Sometimes a good night’s sleep is 2 to 3 hours and then the nightmares kick in. When you’re not sleeping for days and weeks at a time, your body does not have a chance to repair itself and your mind has no time to rejuvenate. People who have PTSD are horribly sleep deprived, which really wears you down quickly. 

  People who have PTSD have a high startle response. This is the jolt of adrenaline that goes through you when you are surprised. The catch .22 is that ANYTHING can startle someone who has PTSD, sending them through the roof at any given moment. 

  Some people experience a high degree of dissociation, or spacing out. It is very hard to stay in the present, and most people involuntarily relive their trauma over and over again when they are dissociating. 

  Triggers, again, an involuntary response, are episodes in which someone is reminded of an aspect of their trauma. Sounds, smells, sights, and thoughts all lead to triggers and bring to the surface a memory that was previously repressed. Triggers can be shocking and can provoke very negative reactions. 

  A good clinician will evaluate each individual on his or her specific experience and how the individual processed the event, or reacted to it. No two people are alike, so how one person deals with trauma is not necessarily how another deals with it. Likewise, not every person who goes through a traumatic event will get Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

  Qualified mental health professionals are finding that it takes time and some in depth discussion with the patient in order to properly diagnose this disorder. The VA currently gives a patient about 25 to 30 minutes with the next scheduled appointment often months apart. This is the least effective way to diagnose this disorder, as it takes a personal look into the event and into the perspective of the patient to make a proper diagnosis. 

  Can you fake having PTSD? Maybe for a little while, but not for long. PTSD has such specific traits and responses that any clinician who has worked with those who have this disorder longer than a few months or so would be able to spot someone who is faking symptoms from a mile away. People who genuinely have PTSD can communicate that to someone who is trained to understand this condition in a way that is genuine and unmistakable. 

Reliving Trauma

Sometimes it seems like we are forever replaying the most traumatic events in our minds. Hardly a day goes by that someone who has PTSD doesn’t think back to the events that permanently transformed their lives forever. At times, it seems as though the trauma happened yesterday because our images are so vivid. Other times, it is as if we are looking a scene in a movie- something terrible that happened to someone else and we are merely voyeurs to this terrible scene. It’s easier to dissociate and detach from the hell that we have been through than it is to face it directly. Like it or not, we relive those moments without much warning.

The memory of these events is always with us and will always haunt us, even if we live to be 100 years of age. Ask any vet who served in Vietnam and they will tell you that time is the only healer for a fragmented memory and a horrific traumatic event. These vets will also tell you that while it never goes away, it does get better. Time and distance are the only things that allow our fragmented memories and emotions to heal. Time and distance and how we process the trauma.

The brain is such a phenomenal mechanism. It is always attempting to shift our memories into long term storage- always attempting to categorize the horror and make sense of it all. It is normal to relive trauma when you have PTSD. Reliving trauma is actually a part of the healing process, although it is painful. It is painful to spontaneously remember forgotten details that can be triggered through sounds, smells, or other means. We experience shock when we recall an aspect of trauma that we had completely blocked out.

We can not prevent this phenomenon from happening, because we have no control over what our memory can do. So, what can we do when we are transported back to a place in which we were helpless, alone, and afraid for our lives? What can we do when we feel he same horror and fear as we did in the most terrifying moment of our lives?

We can act, or we can react. To act, or to be proactive in our healing, means that we go with the memory and allow it to unfold as it will. It means that we take a deep breath, or several deep breaths, and confront the demon that is responsible for all of this mental hell. This can be shocking and scary. To react means that we allow our fear to consume us and we begin to panic or to dissociate from reality. To react means that we allow our adrenaline to take over and we go into fight mode. To act, or to take a proactive stance means that we take control. We take a minute, calm ourselves down, and go through the memory with our mental battle gear on. To react means that we relinquish control to fear and anxiety. We allow the trauma to once again take over and fight against it.

 Ultimately, whichever we choose is up to us. We can choose our plan of action. We can decide that when these events happen, we will take back our control by not allowing the symptoms of PTSD to overwhelm us. It is not as easy to be proactive as it is to react to certain triggers, but it is the way to healing.

PTSD And Planning For The Future

Failure to recognize or plan for the future is a very common Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptom. Why do people who have this disorder have such a hard time acknowledging events that may take place in the future and plan accordingly? Making and carrying out future plans does seem like a logical way to conduct your affairs, but this is a very big problem among those with PTSD.

The answer lies in what PTSD truly is. People acquire this disorder because they have been terrified and rendered helpless in a moment in which they believed that they would die. They have seen death very close to them. This is the diagnostic criteria and defining factor with this disorder. An event in which anyone sees the end of their life coming to an end, an event in which they do not believe that they will survive, robs them of their sense of trust and safety. It takes a certain amount of faith to believe that there will be a tomorrow. A sense of trust and safety are required in order to believe that future plans will actually come to pass. People who suffer from PTSD have lost these concepts and have a markedly foreshortened sense of the future.

Some people who suffer from posttraumatic stress can manage to plan a day or a week in advance, but every one who has this disorder has a threshold of what they can comfortably look forward to. Some people can’t even foresee tomorrow or the next day and this is why we live our lives solely in the present.

If you are in a relationship with someone who has PTSD, you know how frustrating it is to make plans for a week or two in advance and then watch them fall through. Anxiety has much to do with this phenomenon. Depression can contribute to the inability to follow through with pre planned occasions. 

You have likely noticed that we don’t become excited about events until about 5 minutes before they actually occur. Many people who have PTSD do all of their Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve because in our minds, the event has to be hours away in order for us to trust that they will occur. This makes no logical sense to someone who does not have this disorder, but it is extremely normal to someone who has PTSD.

Being in a relationship with someone who has PTSD can be challenging and confusing at times. Sometimes you have to use a lot of critical thinking, common sense, and flexibility. At times, it is hard to know what will be the most helpful and what will make a symptom worse for them. Ultimately, education is the key to dealing with PTSD. Once you know what PTSD really is and what to expect, it is not too difficult to personalize a solid plan that is specific to the person that you love. Belief in a foreshortened future can be overcome, as can many common post traumatic stress symptoms. 

What You Need To Know About Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can ruin your quality of life if you let it. It is an emotional roller coaster that leaves you and those who are close to you mentally drained. This is partially because the symptoms of PTSD are severe, alarming, and can be at odds with one another at times.  To make matters worse, some of these symptoms make no logical sense to someone who does not have PTSD.

If you have PTSD, you know that depression and anxiety are a big part of this disorder. This means that you are up, and then you're down. You can't sit still, and then you can't seem to get out of bed.  Anxiety can include pacing, having racing thoughts, acting compulsively, having panic attacks, and the list goes on. Anxiety can creep up on you when you least expect it. You can be going on about your business and all of a sudden you start to hyperventilate for no particular reason and then it’s off to a full blown panic attack. Severe depression can bring you down so low that you may attempt whatever you believe is necessary to end the pain. Depression can bring you down to a state of hopelessness that's very difficult to overcome. Some people cut or otherwise mutilate themselves. Those who suffer from anxiety, chronic depression, and PTSD are at a very high risk for attempted suicide. It is very common for someone who is experiencing severe depression to cry for long periods of time, to stop eating, to stop communicating with others. At some point, they call this "failure to thrive", which can lead to death. So, the constant push and pull of anxiety and depression in someone who has this disorder alone is enough to seriously complicate relationships with others as well as just mentally torment and exhaust the person who has PTSD.

It's no wonder that many people receive a misdiagnosis of either chronic anxiety or depression. Posttraumatic stress encompasses both of these conditions. Since PTSD involves anxiety and depression in severe states, it is also not uncommon for those who have this disorder to receive a misdiagnosis of personality disorders. This is because of the constant oscillation between the two.

The catch .22 is that the drugs that are commonly prescribed for anxiety don't do much to alleviate depression and vice versa. Also, some of these pharmaceuticals produce depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts as side effects. Obviously this is counterproductive and it can be dangerous for the person who is already suffering.

If a clinician is treating someone exclusively for depression or for anxiety, and fails to make the connection to PTSD, he or she is only treating one component of the disorder. This is a potential nightmare for several reasons. The clinician may believe that the dosage needs to be adjusted if it is not immediately effective and some of these drugs take months to become fully effective. He or she may prescribe one or more medications. It takes time to evaluate whether these drugs are working correctly. Also, it's a process of adjustment. So while the meds are being "adjusted", you're emotionally all over the place. Mentally, you're up for a little while and down for a while. Can you see how this process can be especially dangerous for someone who has PTSD?

Depression and anxiety are two symptoms of PTSD, so it is especially important to work with a clinician who is qualified to treat all three disorders. Anxiety disorders and depression disorders alone are enough to make someone profoundly miserable.

Being in a relationship with someone who has one or the other disorder can be a huge challenge and this is very taxing to the family environment. If you are in a relationship with someone who has told you that they have this disorder, you have to prepare yourself for these and other symptoms to appear. There is a strong connection between PTSD, anxiety, and depression that has to be addressed in a manner that is appropriate for the individual as opposed to a “one size fits all” model. A trained mental health professional and a strong support system are essential in the management of these symptoms when they become too severe for the person to deal with.

If you are dealing with symptoms of PTSD or know someone who is, I urge you to pick up a copy of my book PTSD: WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.  It was written by someone who has this disorder for those who are suffering now and their friends and families. It will give you concrete answers and solutions that you can use to lessen these awful symptoms. 

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder- An Emotional Roller Coaster Ride.

PTSD is an atrocious disorder. You never know when the symptoms are going to creep up on you.  One day, things seem ok and the next day you’re bombarded with memories that send you straight into anxiety and panic attacks. Some days, you’re just going about your business and all of a sudden, you are flooded with intrusive memories or flashbacks. This sets the tone for the rest of the day. You can see something, smell something, or hear something that reminds you of your trauma and you become dizzy and dissociated for a few hours or for a longer period of time. Some people go to bed and stay there for days. It’s just too overwhelming. Some become angry and lash out at everyone around them. Some people cry for hours. Your reaction to this symptom is a personal reaction that reflects your style of coping with the strain of this disorder. 

Some people have a nagging sense that “ something is wrong” or that they have forgotten something. A lot of times, feelings like fear, anxiety, and sadness come over you without a specific reason or trigger. Other times, you can’t feel anything and you can’t decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Emotional numbness is a big part of this disorder and this occurs when you are on an emotional overload at times.

Having a full and unexplainable range of emotions to no emotion at all are all a part of having PTSD and this can be very frustrating and hard to deal with. The bottom line is that fighting the emotional roller coaster ride is like trying to stop the ocean with a cotton ball. The trauma that you’ve experienced also traumatized your emotional system, so it may take some time to find balance. You may wonder if you will ever heal from your experience at times. The answer is that you will heal, but this requires time and for you to proactive about your healing. Acceptance is the first step toward dealing with this symptom.

When you find yourself becoming overly emotional, take a minute to evaluate where these random emotions could be coming from. Can you pinpoint an exact reason? Is it related to your experience? Or are you experiencing emotions for which you have no explanation? Is your emotional response appropriate or inappropriate to the situation? If that it the case, you are likely having a symptom of PTSD. Sometimes these symptoms don’t seem to make much sense to us, but it is how we deal with them that make all of the difference in the process of healing. 

  

There are some psychological techniques and tricks that help with having a wide and varied range of emotion as well as feeling numb and generally locked up inside. Ultimately, you need time to adjust and you need time to physiologically heal from trauma. If you want to learn more about how to handle the symptoms of PTSD, I have written a book entitled PTSD: What to do about it when you don’t know what to do about it. This writing will give you specific steps that you can take in managing the disorder and it’s debilitating symptoms. It was written for those who suffer from this disorder, those who are in a relationship with someone who has this disorder, and those who need information and a solid plan of how to deal with the symptoms of PTSD.

Could Playing Tetris Become A New Treatment For PTSD?

I was reading an interesting study from Oxford University the other day that reported that people who have PTSD and play Tetris have fewer flashbacks. I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and this makes perfect sense to me. I think these guys are on to something.

The study involved 20 people who did not have PTSD. They were shown a violent movie and then divided into three groups. One group did nothing, one group played Tetris, and one group played a trivia game. The results were quite amazing. The group that did nothing experienced an average of 12 involuntary flashbacks. The group that played the trivia game experienced an average of 6 flashbacks. The group that played Tetris experienced an average of 4 flashbacks. Imagine having PTSD and being able to overcome or lessen your flashbacks by playing Tetris.

This makes solid sense to me as one of the recognized and highly effective treatments for post traumatic Stress Disorder is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or (EMDR). EMDR is an information processing therapy that involves proper clinical evaluation and training of coping skills. You should never try to do EMDR alone or with someone other that a therapist. It’s very harmful to do that to yourself.

The similarity is that memories or thoughts are processed as the therapist directs the patient’s eyes to move back and forth. Rapid eye movement combined with other physical stimuli and the awareness of memory and sensation are the keys to getting the brain to categorize fragmented memories and sensations. As I said, do not do this by yourself.

 People who have PTSD typically have intrusive thoughts and fragmented memories surface when engaging in repetitive tasks. The researchers at Oxford report that playing Tetris, planning how the blocks will fall and watching them fall into an organized pattern may be just as beneficial as doing EMDR therapy.

If you are in therapy, why not talk to your therapist about this theory and see if he or she thinks that there is sound logic behind this? I know that I intend to talk to mine about it.

Is it possible that a very effective Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment can be found in the form of a Nintendo game? It is starting to look that way. The research and theory is certainly solid enough. If playing Tetris will lessen a PTSD symptom like experiencing involuntary flashbacks, I think the guys at Oxford have hit a home run.