Hello My friends, Lately I have had several friends going through some very rough times,I am sharing this information with you all.Have a very blessed week.Kathy The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. -Allan K. Chalmers Recognizing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: The First Step Toward Healing Adapted from the American Counseling Association by Marjorie Montemayor, MA November 2005 10 Ways to Recognize Post-traumatic Stress Disorder After a loss, it is normal to go through a natural grieving process. Sometimes, however, after a tragedy, feelings of loss surface several weeks or months after the tragedy occurred. This is called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recognizing these symptoms in yourself or others is the first step toward recovery and finding appropriate treatment. 1. Re-experiencing the event through vivid memories or flash backs. 2. Feeling "emotionally numb." 3. Feeling overwhelmed by what would normally be considered everyday situations and diminished interest in performing normal tasks or pursuing usual interests. 4. Crying uncontrollably. 5. Isolating oneself from family and friends and avoiding social situations. 6. Relying increasingly on alcohol or drugs to get through the day. 7. Feeling extremely moody, irritable, angry, suspicious, or frightened. 8. Having difficulty falling or staying asleep, sleeping too much and experiencing nightmares. 9. Feeling guilty about surviving the event or being unable to solve the problem, change the event or prevent the disaster. 10. Feeling fears and sense of doom about the future. For help dealing with the sudden loss of a loved one, see: Unique concerns when grieving for a sudden loss. RESOURCES: American Counseling Association http://www.counseling.org National Institute of Mental Health http://www.nimh.nih.gov National Mental Health Association http://www.nmha.org

Thanks Kathy. I am having some of those exact feelings at this time. With the help of my Lord I am able to deal with them. Some are a normal way of healing in a learning process. As hard as it is, we can pray that it will make us stronger in a way that we can help others face a similar situation. The proven best way to face a crisis is to have faith in God's plan for our lives. He is always in control and will lead us...if we allow Him to do so. What do people do without Him? I often wonder. Blessings to all, Betty

Hello Betty, I do not understand how people can not have God in there lives either.I walk by faith everyday not by sight.If there is anything I am here for you. God Speed to you,Kathy

Kathy and all, PTSD and other so called mental illnesses involve losing touch with the health and loving part of oneself. With PTSD there is an acttivating episode or series of episodes that can be traced back to to explain causation. However, as with any life stressor, part of the problem is what happened to you and the other aspect is understanding how your existing mental scema eith supports you moving back toward a healthy and happy life experience or 'getting stuck' in the pain in a way that imobalizes you. An example is that not all people who are exposed to the horrors of war in a compat experience have PTSD. When supporting someome with PTSD its important to get he/she to a therapisty as early on in the process as possible. PTSD may lead to agoraphopia( being housebound) if left untreated. The therapist will assess how the mental scema of the person eith supports moving forward to regain health and happiness or tends to enhance the feelings of being victimized and being stuck with fear-based thoughts causing retreat and withdrawl from significant others in the persons life. The goal of life is to be happy and anything that detracts from that or moves us in the other direction is unhealthy for any of us. Personally I would stay away from typical 'support groups' they tend to focus upon the problem and the more we focus upon a problem that bigger it becomes in our thinking. My preferred meathod would be to help the person define what it will take to make he/she happy and make steps to move in the direction of that happiness quotent. When we focus upon that which we seek, that expands and grows in our life. Imwould seek out a therapist who sees people as strong and healthy as opposed to those therapists who seek to identify the pathology and focus just upon that. The field of Positive Psychology holds in its core values that which I am describing. Try googling Positive Psychology and you will find many links to the leaders in that field, such as Dr. Martin Seligman. I hope this helps, Yours in Love & Light, Dave

Thank you Dave, Wow,Thats a story,my goodness,I am gonna do research on this,this is very interesting,thanks for sharing,God Speed to you my friend,kathy