PTSD is a normal response to an abnormal situation.
It is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs, after being exposed to some kind of traumatic event. After a traumatic event the part of our brain that deals with our survival the limbic brain takes over and hijacks our logical thinking brain the neo cortex. As a result, our emotions are elevated and our mind and body go into shock.
Following a traumatic event, almost everyone experiences some of the following symptoms: nightmares; feeling fearful or numb; and finding it difficult to stop thinking about what happened. For most people these symptoms are short lived. They may last for several days or even weeks, but they gradually lift. Eventually the elevated levels of emotion subside and logic takes over.
If you have PTSD the symptoms don’t decrease and you don’t feel better. In fact the symptoms can get worse over time. It is common for the symptoms to develop hours or days after the traumatic event, and in some cases it is often weeks, months or even years when the symptoms develop. The symptoms can be triggered by something that reminds you of the original event: sounds, smells, certain words or images.
All of the above conditions are extremely treatable. Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) has been used and proven to be extremely effective in war torn areas such as Bosnia and Sarajevo. There have been several studies of NLP use in psychotherapy published over the last ten years.
Dr David Muss did a pilot study with 70 members of the West Midlands Police Force, all of whom had witnessed major disasters such as the Lockerbie air crash. Nineteen qualified as having PTSD, the time between trauma and treatment varied from six weeks to ten years. All participants reported that after an average of three sessions they were completely free of intrusive memories and other PTSD symptoms. For most, one session was enough to solve the problem. Follow up assessments ranged from three months to two years, and all gains were sustained over that time (Muss, 1991).
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