Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD means, in simple terms, that you’ve got some crossed wires in your brain due to a traumatic event. The overload of stress makes your panic button touchier than most people’s, so certain things trigger a stress reaction—or more candidly—an over-reaction. Sometimes the panic button gets stuck altogether and you’re in a state of constant alert, buzzing and twitchy and aggressive.
Your amygdala—the instinctive fight, flight, or freeze part of your brain—reacts to a trigger before your rational mind can stop it. You can tell yourself, “it’s ok", but your cautious brain is already ten steps ahead of the game registering danger and sounding the alarm. So you might say once again, in a calm, reasoned kind of way, “Brain, it’s ok…”
But your brain yells back, “How dumb do you think I am? I’m not falling for that again.” By then you are hiding in the closet, drinking from a bottle, or hiding from life, crying, raging or ignoring the phone. You can’t relax and you can’t concentrate because those old demons are still pulling at your strings.
The long-range result is that the peace of mind you deserve is held hostage by the terror of your past.
To get help in healing your wounds from the past, contact Dr. Barbara Denny at 714-832-6454.