Tag Archives: PTSD
From Trigger to Transformation: How Creative Acts Can Shift the Nervous System’s Response
This spring, a patch of red sprouts emerged in my garden. To someone else, they might have looked intriguing or even beautiful. But for me, their appearance instantly triggered an unwanted body memory from childhood trauma. At that moment, my … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged art, Behavioral Health, creativity, expressive arts, flashback, liberation, Mental Health, mental illness, painting, PTSD, Solomon's seal, trigger
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When Things Fall Apart, Recommit
Recently, I drove 90 minutes round-trip to see a specialist at the University of Pennsylvania Neuroscience Center at Radnor. That was a lot for me. My arms aren’t used to driving that long. It caused burning and muscle pain. The … Continue reading
Posted in Healthcare
Tagged CRPS, health, Medicine, Mental Health, Nerve Block, pain specialist, pRFA, PTSD, pulsed Radio Frequency Ablation, SGB, Stellate Ganglion Block, U Penn
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Understanding the Predator-Prey Dynamic Through IPNB
The dynamic between the predator and the victim involves complex layers of relational manipulation, nervous system responses, and emotional regulation (or dysregulation), which deeply affect both the predator’s and the victim’s neurobiological processes. Through the lens of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), … Continue reading
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
Posted in PTSD, Trauma
Tagged Complex PTSD, CPTSD, Medicine, Mental Health, Nervous System, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Psychology, PTSD, Regulation, Trauma
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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
Posted in PTSD
Tagged bathing, dissociation, flashbacks, IPNB, Medical PTSD, PTSD, Regulation, shower
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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
Posted in Healthcare, PTSD
Tagged doctor-patient relationship, health, healthcare, Medical PTSD, Medicine, pain, PTSD, trust
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Trauma is the Problem. Connection is the Solution.
I have spent the last 6.5 years largely treating Complex PTSD myself due to lack of access to appropriate level care. This includes from a Somatic Experiencing psychologist whose bandwidth turned out to be too narrow for my somatic experience! … Continue reading
Posted in PTSD
Tagged connection, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB, PTSD, safety, therapy
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PTSD and Money Struggles
When our nervous system is dysregulated, it negatively affects how we think, feel, and act. A dysregulated nervous system makes it harder to focus, make plans, take risks, or stay consistent with long-term goals, which are important when it comes … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged Behavioral Health, financial stress, Mental Health, money, poverty, PTSD, Regulation, Stress, well-being
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The Shredding of My Safety Nets
Thanks to the effects of compound trauma on the brain, my resources for many things I used to enjoy have been quite limited for years. Most of my resources for social encounters are used for visits with my doctors. There’s … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health, PTSD
Tagged allostatic load, connection, interpersonal neurobiology, IPNB, isolation, Mental Health, PTSD, Trauma, well-being
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