Welcome Everyone To "THE PTSD SHOW: ALL WOUNDS ARE NOT VISIBLE!" Hosted by Coach Holly and Big Daddy Frank. This show is about support, awareness, education, stories, feelings, news & information, friendship, and chat. Coach Holly and I have been down the dark path of destruction & depression. We know what it means to not care or want to give-up on life. Today we are going to discuss, "The Triggers That Bring Us Back!" Big Daddy will talk about his week of hell and about his triggers never go away....Listen to our show, call-in, don't be afraid, you will be amongst friends who live the PTSD Life!

You can take steps to better manage and prevent flashbacks and dissociation. These are described below.

Coping skills, relaxation exercises, and other strategies for managing anxiety and stress associated with PTSD.

Using a Positive Self-Statement Log to Recognize Your Daily Accomplishments
When people are feeling down or stressed out, it can be hard to always recognize the positive things you have accomplished. Learn about one way to get in touch with the goals that you have met in your day.

Monitor Your Emotions
Learn how to monitor your emotions in order to determine what coping skills are working best for you.

Catching and Changing Negative Thoughts
Changing negative thoughts can be an important skill to have because how you evaluate and think can affect your mood. Learn how to identify and address unhealthy thoughts, and in doing so, improve your mood.

Using Distraction as a Way of Coping with Strong Emotions
Learn about distraction as a way of coping with strong, uncomfortable feelings.

Your Emotions and PTSD
People with PTSD may have emotions that feel out-of-control and unpredictable. As a result, they can be very difficult to manage. Learning how to identify exactly what you are feeling in the moment can make it easier to respond to them in a healthy and effective way.

Improving Your Mood
Putting aside time in your schedule to take part in positive and pleasurable activities can improve your mood and lessen or keep away depression and some symptoms of PTSD.

Developing A Safety Plan
If you have PTSD, then you know that you can experience PTSD symptoms at any time. Therefore, it is important to have a safety plan in place in order to respond quickly and effectively when these PTSD symptoms occur.

Coping with Thoughts of Suicide
Many people with PTSD have experienced thoughts of ending their own life. When you experience suicidal thoughts, it is important to address them immediately. Learn some ways to cope with these thoughts.

How to Identify and Cope with Your PTSD Triggers
Learn how to identify and cope with triggers for your PTSD symptoms.

Coping with Flashbacks and Dissociation
Many people with PTSD struggle with flashbacks and dissociation. These symptoms can be unpredictable and difficult to manage. However, there are some things you can do to better manage these symptoms of PTSD.

Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation can be a very effective way of reducing stress and anxiety. Learn how to do progressive muscle relaxation here.

Self-Soothing Coping Strategies
It is important to develop coping strategies, focused on reducing distress and improving your mood, that you can do on your own. Learn more about some coping strategies that may be effective in managing your distress.

Use Expressive Writing as a Way of Coping with PTSD
Writing about your feelings and thoughts (or expressive writing) can be a healthy way of coping with your PTSD. Learn how to cope with your PTSD through writing.

Seeking out Social Support
People with PTSD can benefit greatly from having social support. However, in seeking out and establishing social support, there are certain qualities to look for. Learn about some of these qualities here.

Book Review: The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide
Many people with PTSD also have borderline personality disorder (BPD) and PTSD is common in BPD. Fortunately, there is a new book that can provide help for people struggling with BPD, The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide, by Drs. Alexander Chapman and Kim L. Gratz.

Making Positive Changes in the New Year
The New Year is a time when people often commit to making positive changes in their lives. This may be particularly important for the person with PTSD, especially given that PTSD is often associated with a number of unhealthy behaviors.

Managing Your Alcohol Intake Over the Holidays
Many people increase their alcohol consumption over the holidays. This can be dangerous for someone with PTSD. Learn how to cope with cravings for alcohol over the holidays.

PTSD and Coping with the Holidays
The holidays can be a difficult time for people with PTSD. Learn how you can cope with the stress of the holidays and your PTSD.

Is Your PTSD Getting Worse?
The severity of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms can change over time. It is important to recognize early warning signs that PTSD symptoms may be getting worse. Learn how to identify and cope with these early warning signs in order to prevent a worsening of your PTSD.

Take a Time Out from Anger
People with PTSD may have higher levels of anger and, as a result, are more likely to have arguments or conflicts with others. Learn how to better manage your anger through the use of "time-outs."

Coping with PTSD
PTSD can have a tremendous negative impact on a person's life. The distressing symptoms of PTSD can often lead people to use unhealthy ways of coping, such as alcohol or drug use. Learn more about some of the healthy ways of coping with PTSD symptoms.

Use Self-Monitoring for PTSD
Using self-monitoring for PTSD can be an important skill. It can increase your awareness of situations that bring about unpleasant and upsetting thoughts and feelings such as anxiety. The first step in addressing these thoughts and feelings is being aware of what situations bring them up. Self-monitoring can help with that.

Get More Active in Your Life!
When people feel down, they may be less likely to do the things they enjoy in life or lose track of their goals. Behavioral activation is a simple way of getting back in touch with those things you find enjoyable and pleasurable.

Reduce Stress by Breathing
It may sound silly, but many people do not breathe properly. Learning to breathe properly can do a lot to protect you from stress and anxiety.

Practice Being Mindful: A Quick and Easy Exercise
Mindfulness is an excellent way of coping with stress and anxiety. Here you can learn about a mindfulness exercise that is quick and can be done anywhere by anyone.

Make the Decision to Change a Behavior
People with PTSD may develop behaviors that appear useful in the short-run but in the long-run are actually harmful or detrimental to the person's well-being. So, how do you identify whether a behavior you are engaging in is good or bad? You can determine this by evaluating the short- and long-term pros and cons of a behavior.

One bright spot is that a predicted spike in divorce rates might have been overstated. A yearlong study by Rand Corp., published in 2007, found that after a brief rise beginning in 2001, divorce across all military branches stabilized at 3 percent in 2005, the same rate as in 1996. But the study's authors noted that no one can predict the long-term fallout for couples."

By GAIL ROSENBLUM
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Article Last Updated: 09/04/2008 01:39:29 AM PDT

http://www.monterey herald.com/ health/ci_ 10378421? nclick_check= 1

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Mike Mills didn't look in a mirror for two months after a land mine blew him out of his truck near Kirkuk, Iraq, in June 2005, cracking his clavicle, shattering his hip "like a jigsaw puzzle" and burning off half of his face. When he did, only one word came to him: "Freak."
Recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Mills worried about his two kids in Freeport, Minn. He worried about making a living. Mostly, he worried about Suhanna — Suki — his wife of nearly 20 years, who would surely leave him.

"How can I expect her to stay with me anymore?" said Mills, 43, a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard for 18 years. "She's not going to want to be intimate with a freak. Elephant Man. That's the way I saw myself." Suki, 43, didn't leave. "I'm too old to train in another one," she joked.

She changed her husband's pus- and blood-soaked bandages, and helped him relearn how to shave and brush his teeth.

As the Mills family moves forward, the U.S. Defense and Veterans Affairs departments are acknowledging that the physical and emotional scars that troops carry home present a sensitive challenge: sexual intimacy and body-image issues that most couples' therapists are ill-prepared to treat.

Many factors play a role. More than half of the troops — 56 percent — are married, many for decades. That means lots of spouses issuing ultimatums to get help or get out.

In addition, the war's ubiquitous battleground and multiple deployments have left an estimated 40,000 troops with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a syndrome unequivocally tied to marital distress, as well as brain injuries, burns and loss of limbs — horrific injuries that, because of protective Kevlar vests, are no longer fatal.
The number of people returning with disabilities, is an "enormous problem ... an astonishing problem," said Eli Coleman, director of the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota. "Combined with the fact that returning vets are usually older and partnered, this is having a devastating effect on relationships. "

Maureen Kennedy, a licensed psychologist with the Polytrauma Program at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, agrees.

"Women will say, 'He doesn't even touch me. He doesn't want to come close to me'" Kennedy said. "The man will say, 'I don't even feel like having sex anymore.' He has been conditioned to not feel emotions and may experience hypervigilance or anxiety when touched. ... Emotional detachment is a hallmark of PTSD."

One bright spot is that a predicted spike in divorce rates might have been overstated. A yearlong study by Rand Corp., published in 2007, found that after a brief rise beginning in 2001, divorce across all military branches stabilized at 3 percent in 2005, the same rate as in 1996. But the study's authors noted that no one can predict the long-term fallout for couples.

The short-term effect is evident. The Minneapolis VA Medical Center, which already provides couples therapy, has expanded to focus on sexual and combat trauma for couples, and is refining that treatment with data being collected from 50 military couples, said VA researcher Christopher Erbes.

Its work, among the first of its kind in the nation, is modeled after a successful treatment program at the VA National Center for PTSD in Boston. And sex was front and center at the Wounded Troops and Partners conference in Washington, D.C., in May.

While sexual problems might seem like a curious concern during wartime, the conference brought home the urgency: a failed intimate relationship was the reason cited for nearly three-quarters of last year's military-related suicides, said Mitchell S. Tepper, of the Center of Excellence for Sexual Health at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

"The mirror is such a powerful experience," said Tepper, who is pushing for a national dialogue about how to support healthy intimacy among military couples. "The first time you see the reflection of your changed body, whether sitting in a wheel chair, or severely disfigured because of facial burns, it is shocking. People who are not married look down and ask, 'Will anyone ever be interested in me?' If they are married, they wonder, 'Will my partner still find me sexually attractive?' Facing issues of body image and sexual self-esteem are pretty universal."

Abby Jackson, 25, understands. Her Iowa National Guardsman husband, Robert Jackson, 27, returned home from Iraq with both legs amputated below the knee.

"I knew that I wanted to be intimate again," said Abby, quoted in a transcript from the Wounded Troops conference. "I knew that I definitely wanted to have more children, and I knew that he was not interested in me and so a big red flag to me was, well, what did I do? Why does he not want to have sex? Why does he not want to touch my hand, or why is he not asking me to get in the bed? Am I the only one that is feeling like I want in the bed?"

Hardly. Candice Monson, deputy director of the Women's Health Sciences Division of the VA National Center for PTSD, said sleep disturbances are yet another problem for partners.

"He had dreams that he didn't realize he was having," said Jennifer Suarez, 43, a dental hygienist married for 18 years to Maj. Eduardo Suarez, who has done two tours in Iraq with the Minnesota Army National Guard. "He was much more active during these dreams. Nothing that would keep me up but, yes, there was a part of him he couldn't control."

While the Suarezes remained in the same bed and are aggressively working to stay close, Monson worries about couples with fewer resources.

Without effective and targeted couples therapy, Monson said, "this war can result in separate bedrooms and sexless, loveless marriages 25 years down the road."

The heartening news is that it is precisely these couples' longevity and maturity, having withstood challenges of child-rearing, financial stresses and aging parents, that can save them.

Even faced with physical disfigurement or an amputation, Kennedy said, "many couples are resilient and their relationships last, or may even be strengthened. " The adjustment can be tougher for younger couples, she said, who might have less maturity and experience.

But all couples can benefit from support and guidance. Monson is beginning a two-year trial, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, designed to strengthen couple relationships and treat PTSD. Part of her process includes helping spouses avoid the easy way out.

Hanging in there can pay big dividends. The Jacksons of Iowa did regain their intimacy, evidenced by a busy 2-year-old and a 6-month-old joining their two older children.

The Mills, parents of Aaron, 18, and Kenzie, 13, also continue to draw strength from each other. Three years after his traumatic injuries, Mike looks in the mirror now and says with a smile, "I was good looking before and I'm better looking now."

Suki has adjusted to the fact that her husband lost most of his left ear, two-and-a-half fingers and will have pins in his hips for the rest of his life. He can't quite wrap his left arm around her anymore, but she can still fit her head into the crook of his neck.

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Other Organizations

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill 
Colonial Place Three 2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300 
Arlington, VA 22201-3042 
800-950-6264

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Other Organizations

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill 
Colonial Place Three 2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300 
Arlington, VA 22201-3042 
800-950-6264

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Coping and support

If distress caused by a traumatic event affects your life, seeing your health care professional is an important first step. But you can take actions to help yourself cope as you continue with treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Things you can do include:

• Follow your health professional's instructions. Although it may take a while to feel benefits from therapy or medications, most people do begin to feel better within a few weeks. Remind yourself that it takes time. Healing won't come overnight. Following your treatment plan will help move you forward.
• Take care of yourself. Get enough rest, eat a balanced diet, exercise and take time to relax. Avoid caffeine and nicotine, which can worsen anxiety.
• Don't self-medicate. Turning to alcohol or drugs to numb your feelings isn't healthy, even though it may be a tempting way to cope. It can lead to more problems down the road and prevent real healing.
• Break the cycle. When you feel anxious, take a brisk walk or delve into a hobby to refocus.
• Talk to someone. Stay connected with supportive and caring family, friends, faith leaders or others. You don't have to talk about what happened, if you don't want to. Just sharing time together with loved ones can offer healing and comfort.
• Consider a support group. Many communities have support groups geared for specific situations. Ask your health care professional for help finding one, look in your local phone book, or contact your community's social services system.
• Make a resolution. For many people, living through a traumatic event becomes a turning point to make positive changes in their lives and grow emotionally and psychologically. For instance, some people who live through a serious car accident caused by someone under the influence of alcohol may resolve to combat drinking and driving.