Category Archives: PTSD

Creating Safety in a Culture That Profits from Harm

For the eight years since my connections were severed by psychiatric and medical abuse, I have been building conditions that allow my nervous system to recover. What it has needed is attunement, compassionate witnessing, empathy, validation of my lived experience, … Continue reading

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Beyond “The God Shot”: SGB is a Tool, Not a Cure for PTSD

Publicity for an interview with Dr. Eugene Lipov includes the question, “What if PTSD isn’t a mental disorder—but a physical injury that can be healed?” It refers to “advanced brain scans” that “revealed trauma’s visible scars on the brain,” and … Continue reading

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Complex PTSD From An IPNB Perspective: Survival Adaptations and the Roots of Symptoms

When people talk about Complex PTSD or other trauma-related conditions, they often focus on the symptoms. They make lists of patterns, put them into clusters, and give them names. That sounds organized, but it hides the bigger picture. It puts … Continue reading

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The Great Misdiagnosis: Why Medical Trauma Requires a Different Lens

The standard treatment for PTSD is the problem. It nearly killed me. And then the standard treatment for that was even worse. It locked me into psychiatric hospitalization for 8 days and nights. There, my rights were violated, I received … Continue reading

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The Madness I Lived, the Meaning I Made: A Cohesive Narrative For an Extreme Life

Creating a cohesive narrative of one’s life is one of the most powerful ways to make sense of what we’ve been through. It allows us to see patterns, understand our survival strategies, and reclaim a sense of agency in a … Continue reading

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How Repeated Medical Abuse Conditions the Nervous System

Fabrizio Benedetti’s insights into conditioning in his book, “The Patient’s Brain: The neuroscience behind the doctor-patient relationship,” are highly relevant for understanding how repeated medical abuse can shape a person’s nervous system. Conditioning—where the nervous system learns through repeated experiences—plays … Continue reading

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Can Trauma Survivors Recover Without Access to Professional Help?

According to a 2021 study, “most states have fewer than 40% of the mental health professionals needed” and “more than half (51%) of counties in the United States have no practicing psychiatrists.” Even where mental illness industry practitioners exist, many … Continue reading

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Music Power in the Shower

Most people enjoy taking a shower, but for trauma survivors like me, bathing is often loaded. After being abused and neglected by the medical industry, my nervous system became severely dysregulated. Even something as simple as taking a shower becomes … Continue reading

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How Repeated Medical Abuse Conditions the Nervous System

Fabrizio Benedetti’s insights into conditioning in his book, “The Patient’s Brain: The neuroscience behind the doctor-patient relationship,” are highly relevant for understanding how repeated medical abuse can shape a person’s nervous system. Conditioning—where the nervous system learns through repeated experiences—plays … Continue reading

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A Lion at My Neck: The Coast Guard’s Sexual Assault Crisis Demands Urgent Reform

When the US Coast Guard towed my disabled sailboat 8 years ago today, I encountered a predator within the ranks. My experience underscores a systemic failure: the military’s persistent inability to address sexualized violence, protect survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable. … Continue reading

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