There’s a song, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”  I hate that song.  Clearly whoever wrote the song does not have an understanding about life’s traumas.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a good example of how erroneous that song is.  PTSD is most often thought of for people serving in the military, but in reality, people of all ages and all walks of life suffer from PTSD.  People who have been sold into human trafficking, who are raped, beaten and abused on a daily bases are one group.  Women and men who are in abusive relationships, children who are raped and beaten, nurses, doctors, police officers, firefighters, anyone working with the public safety and rescue jobs have seen devastating situations.  I once was held at gun point for two hours.

It is estimated that 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. This equates to approximately 223.4 million people.  Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, that equates to approximately 44.7 million people who were or are struggling with PTSD.  An estimated 8% of Americans − 24.4 million people − have PTSD at any given time. That is equal to the total population of Texas.  An estimated one out of every nine women develops PTSD, making them about twice as likely as men.  http://www.ptsdunited.org/ptsd-statistics

When I interview people struggling with PTSD, I am told the same over and over:

1. I can’t sleep because when I close my eyes, I seen the horror and I live it again.

2. I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to go through it again by talking about it.

3. I don’t want to live.  Sometimes I feel homicidal and other times I feel suicidal.  I don’t want to be around people, not even my own family.

What tools are available to people suffering with PTSD?  Mental health professionals can provide counseling and support groups.  When I ask a client if they have pursued this avenue, they usually tell me they did and it wasn’t helpful.  PTSD sufferers tell me that the medications prescribed are not very helpful and they don’t like the side effects of the medications.

Hypnosis is a beneficial tool for individuals suffering from PTSD.  With hypnosis, one learns that by fighting and trying to resist the traumatic memories, this actually contributes to making the trauma worse.  Guidance with a skilled hypnotherapist can help the client detach from the trauma and observe the traumatic event from a different point of view and help the client realize that the event can be put into prospective and help the individual through the event.

I have worked with women who were raped and have seen first hand how beneficial hypnosis is in the recovery process.  I have seen hypnosis help people dealing with other horrific events causing PTSD.  If you are suffering from PTSD and you have tried the standard treatments with limited results, you may want to consider adding hypnosis to your tool bag to go along with your counseling.

I encourage anyone suffering from PTSD to seek help.  Life can be rebuilt and restored with the proper help and tools.  You really don’t have to deal with PTDS by yourself.