This morning while doing reading on twitter I learned that June is PTSD Awareness Month. I also learned that June 27 is PTSD Awareness Day. I have found a lot of good information from the NATIONAL CENTER for PTSD. I will be sharing information about topics around PTSD for the rest of the month in between my regular blog postings. Yesterday Kathleen Sebelius HHS Secretary put on a news release about PTSD awareness month I have copied and pasted it below. As many readers are aware I have PTSD. Mine stems from years of emotional, physical, sexual and ritual abuse. I was raised by a parent Ruth (I refuse to call her my mother) who was very mentally ill. She actually had Dissociative Identity Disorder. Which means that she survived a lot of trauma in her childhood as well. It had to be pretty severe to cause DID. It also means that she had PTSD herself. It always saddens me that she never got the proper support therapeutically to help herself. She unfortunately came from a family where keeping secrets inside the family system was very important. Even when she tried to kill my oldest brothers and was sent to treatment for her mental health. Her mother still didn't want her to get help. If she tried to kill my brothers ten years later she would have landed in jail or a psychiatric hospital. She wasn't diagnosed with DID until she was in her 60's and had deteriorated so much that 30 treatments of electric shock didn't lift her depression. Ruth to me is the extreme example of where someone can end up if they don't take care of themselves mentally and physically. Or if someone doesn't have the right support they need to get treatment. My siblings and I were so fractured and not talking that we were not able to come together to force her into treatment when we became adults. While some of us felt this was a good idea some felt it wasn't and weren't at that time able to see the damage Ruth had done to all of us. Most of all, some of us were still looking for Ruth to love us that we didn't want to rock the boat. Just in case.
I had no idea what PTSD was until I was 27 years old. I have spoken earlier about my becoming agoraphobic and not leaving the house for 7 months. My agoraphobia came as a result of loosing a job where I was working and saving money to leave my abusive marriage. As a result of getting treatment in New Haven, CT I was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and panic disorder and agoraphobia. Unfortunately my children have PTSD as well due to being raised in a violent environment when they were very young. I worked my hardest to make sure they received treatment to help them cope with this. Sometimes PTSD can creep up on you when you least expect it. For no reason I have gotten upset, cried, screamed and yelled until I realized I was in PTSD. That is why learning triggers are very important. For me Ruth spent from the age I was 11 until I was 18 years old yelling at me for at least 2 hours a day when I was around. There were many times I dissociated as a way to deal with this chronic emotional and psychological abuse and at times hitting. To be honest once I hit an age where I was taller then Ruth she stopped being as psychically abusive. This chronic verbal and emotional abuse brought a lot of stress to me. And made me stay away from home as much as I could. The confusing thing to me was that no matter what, she seemed to be able to turn the conversation around to where I was always wrong. Or where I created a situation that I knew I didn't. She never to the day she died took any responsibility for her actions or behavior. Then, when I married and got into an argument with my ex and he wasn't taking any responsibility for his actions or behaviors I immediately went into PTSD and panic attacks. Or when he was emotionally, verbally and physically abusive I went straight into PTSD. All of which of course only heightened the stress level. This went on for many years. Why? Well I had a lot of work to do on myself and I had no idea what PTSD was. So I couldn't put any type of interventions in place to reduce my PTSD.
News Release
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 6, 2012 |
Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343 |
Statement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recognizing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects 1 in 29 Americans, from our country’s service men and women to abused children and survivors of rape, domestic violence and natural disasters. During PTSD Awareness Month in June, and throughout the year, we recognize the millions of Americans who experience this challenging and debilitating condition.PTSD is an anxiety disorder that some people develop after seeing or living through an event that caused or threatened serious harm or death. PTSD may result in sleep problems, irritability, anger, recurrent dreams about the trauma, intense reactions to reminders of the trauma, disturbances in relationships, and isolation. Some people may recover a few months after the event, but for others it may take years. For some, PTSD may begin long after the events occur.
PTSD can be treated. Effective treatments are available, such as exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and approved medications. Many people with PTSD also benefit from peer support.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DOD), are supporting new research to reveal the underlying causes of PTSD and related conditions, develop better tools to identify those at highest risk of developing the disorder, and develop new and better treatments and preventive interventions. As part of the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law, HHS is partnering with DOD and the VA to share our best ideas on how to improve the quality of health care for veterans and all Americans.
If you think that you or someone you know has PTSD, you are not alone. There is help available. Talk with a caring VA counselor by calling 1-800-273-8255 (press “1”) or visiting the online VA Chat at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans/Default.aspx
.The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) also offer a variety of resources designed to help people who suffer from PTSD, as well as aid their families and friends in better understanding and dealing with trauma’s aftermath. These resources include:
- SAMHSA’s Mental Health Services Locator at http://store.samhsa.gov/mhlocator helps locate local treatment services and support for those with PTSD.
- NIMH and National Institutes of Health fact sheets and information on clinical trials and scientific studies on PTSD at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml and http://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=58&key=P
- Information about bullying and other traumatic crises at http://www.stopbullying.gov.
- The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (http://www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness/national-ptsd-awareness-day
- The National Center for Trauma Informed Care (www.samhsa.gov/nctic) provides education and training for supporting recovery and identifying specific treatment practices to address trauma.
- SAMHSA’s Military Families Strategic Initiative web site at http://www.samhsa.gov/militaryfamilies.
- Veterans Chat for veterans, family members or friends in crisis at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
We have a responsibility to help Americans who have lived through trauma, especially our nation’s service men and women who may be struggling with PTSD. We owe them the care and resources they need to get well.
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/06/20120606a.html
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