Control PTSD with Mindfulness

September 15, 2015 psyjdc Leave a comment

“It is as though some old part of yourself wakes up in you, terrified, useless in the life you have, its skills and habits destructive but intact, and what is left of the present you, the person you have become, wilts and shrivels in sadness or despair: the person you have become is only a thin shell over this other, more electric and endangered self. The strongest, the least digested parts of your experience can rise up and put you back where you were when they occurred; all the rest of you stands back and weeps.” – Peter Straub

Experiencing trauma is quite common. It has been estimated that 60% of men and 50% of women will experience a significant traumatic event during their lifetime. But, only a fraction will develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But this still results in a frightening number of people with 7%-8% of the population developing PTSD at some point in their life. For military personnel it’s much more likely for PTSD to develop with about 11%-20% of those who have served in a war zone developing PTSD.

PTSD involves a number of troubling symptoms including reliving the event with the same fear and horror in nightmares or with a flashback. PTSD sufferers avoid situations that remind them of the event this may include crowds, driving, movies, etc. and may avoid seeking help because it keeps them from having to think or talk about the event. They often experience negative changes in beliefs and feelings including difficulty experiencing positive or loving feelings toward other people, avoiding relationships, memory difficulties, or see the world as dangerous and no one can be trusted. Sufferers may feel hyperarousal, feeling keyed up and jittery, or always alert and on the lookout for danger. They may experience sudden anger or irritability, may have a hard time sleeping or concentrating, may be startled by a loud noise or surprise.

Obviously, these are troubling symptoms that need to be addressed. There are a number of therapies that have been developed to treat PTSD. One of which, mindfulness training has been found to be particularly effective (see links below).

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Veterans: A Randomized Clinical Trial”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1088524461171479/?type=1&theater

Polusny and colleagues tested Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) against Present Centered Group Therapy (PCGT) for the treatment of PTSD in military veterans. They found that MBSR was superior to PCGT and produced clinically significant improvements in PTSD symptoms and improved quality of life and mindfulness skills in the veterans. This superiority was enduring as it was present not only at the end of treatment but also significantly two months later.

These are exciting results that mindfulness practice can be of significant help for PTSD sufferers but especially because the treatment was superior to another form of therapy. In addition, its’ effectiveness continued to produce improvements even two months after the completion of therapy.

It is not known how mindfulness training could be so effective for PTSD. It can be speculated that the improvement in present moment awareness might have helped by focusing on the individual on the present rather than the past when the trauma occurred and by reducing rumination about the past. In addition, mindfulness training is known to improve emotion regulation and this may allow the veterans to not avoid but fully experience the emotions and then respond to them in a constructive fashion.

Regardless, it’s clear that PTSD sufferers benefit from mindfulness training.

“Often it isn’t the initiating trauma that creates seemingly insurmountable pain, but the lack of support after.” – S. Kelley Harrell

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

LINKS

Yoga has been shown to be effective in treating children who have experienced trauma http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/yoga-for-trauma-in-children/ and mindfulness has been shown to improve an individual’s ability to deal with the aftermath of trauma http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/dont-be-afraid-2-dealing-with-trauma/

Yoga for Trauma in Children

July 17, 2015 psyjdc 4 Comments

“Yoga’s ability to touch us on every level of our being—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—makes it a powerful and effective means for trauma victims to reinhabit their bodies safely, calm their minds, experience emotions directly, and begin to feel a sense of strength and control.” – van der Kolk

Trauma comes in many forms, from abuse to warfare, from children to the elderly, from natural and man-made causes, and from the rich to the poor. But, regardless of the cause or the characteristics of the individuals, it leaves in its wake a syndrome of posttraumatic symptoms which can haunt the victims for the rest of their lives. These include persistent recurrent re-experiencing of the traumatic event, including flashbacks and nightmares, loss of interest in life, detachment from other people, increased anxiety and emotional arousal, including outbursts of anger, difficulty concentration, and jumpiness, startling easily.

There have been many treatments employed each with varying but limited success. Mostly these treatments have been used with adults. But, children who are victims of trauma have been the focus of very few studies of therapeutic interventions. The lack of focus is surprising as it’s been estimated that of adolescents, 8% had been exposed to sexual assault, 17% physical assault, and 39% had witnessed violence. It is estimated that 15% of children show symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Mindfulness training and yoga practice have been found to be effective for trauma in adults, particularly from the middle and upper classes. It has yet to be shown if they can be employed effectively with children and with individuals from low socioeconomic categories. In today’s Research News article “Yoga to Reduce Trauma-Related Distress and Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties Among Children Living in Orphanages in Haiti: A Pilot Study”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1049082531782339/?type=1&theater

Culver and colleagues begin to address this issue by employing yoga training to treat traumatized orphans in Haiti. They found that yoga reduced the symptoms of trauma in these children and showed a trend toward a reduction in behavioral difficulties.

These findings are very encouraging. Trauma affects both the mind and the body. Yoga works with both, but is particularly targeted to the body. The relaxation produced by yoga practice is a soothing antidote to the hyperaroused state that is so characteristic of trauma victims. Yoga appears to reduce activity in the sympathetic nervous system, the fight or flight system. Hence, yoga appears to produce both muscular and physiological relaxation, directly addressing a symptom of trauma.

The practice of focusing attention that is so central to yoga training addresses the difficulties with concentration that are characteristic of trauma victims. The focus of attention in yoga is on the sensations from the body. This can directly address the numbing of sensation that is frequently reported by trauma victim. In addition, getting in touch with bodily sensations helps trauma victims get more in touch with their emotions allowing them to better work with them.

So, yoga appears to be an excellent treatment for trauma alone but preferably in combination with other treatment modalities.

CMCS

Don’t be afraid! 2 – Dealing with Trauma

July 17, 2015 psyjdc 1 Comment

Traumatic events produce indelible marks on the individual. Sometimes they’re physical injury. Sometimes they’re psychological injury. But always they alter the person forever. The damage can be so severe as to totally debilitate the individual or can be at a level that just torments the individual, taking the joy out of life.

But individuals differ in their responses to trauma. Exposed to essentially the same trauma one person may be relatively unaffected while the other suffers severe post-traumatic symptoms that persist for years. What accounts for the difference? This could provide a clue for effective treatment or prevention of the negative effects of experiencing traumatic events.

In today’s Research News article, “Longitudinal Evaluation of the Relationship Between Mindfulness, General Distress, Anxiety, and PTSD in a Recently Deployed National Guard Sample. “

http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/article/10.1007/s12671-015-0400-0/fulltext.html

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1018820361475223/?type=1&theater

it is demonstrated that an individual’s degree of mindfulness appears to mitigate the continuing effects of trauma. The more mindful a soldier the better he/she adapts to the distress produced by trauma.

These post-traumatic distress symptoms are due to past events. Whatever event triggered the symptoms is no longer present. Being able to focus on the present situation renders past events less able to continue influencing the individual’s state. Since, mindfulness means present moment awareness, it is not surprising that it would assist in restricting the long-term impact of trauma. Hence, mindfulness makes the individual more resilient and less affected by trauma.

There is now a considerable body of literature that mindfulness training can be useful in treating the continuing long-term distress produced by trauma. Today’s article suggests that the individual difference in the response to trauma may, at least in part, be due to the individual level of mindfulness.

So practice mindfulness and don’t be afraid. You’ll be better equipped to deal with it in case you are exposed to trauma.

CMCS