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Joe Cleary - Posts: 25
P.T.S.D. is an acronym for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is a term used to refer to the experience of intense distress, often taking physical and mental forms that seem to be overwhelming, following extremely traumatic events. It is often seen in soldiers returning from war, emergency responders such as members of the fire brigade and women who have gone through exceptionally difficult births. The Mumstown member asked about possible treatments and I have given a response below.
Just Googling P.T.S.D. in Ireland throws up a few links to mental health practitioners, but in the main they tend be psychologists and treatment will be based on following treatment protocols - that the treatment will be quite structured and standardised. I think that this is actually what is implied when people want someone who has 'experience' of working within a specific field - that there is a degree of predictability to the course of treatment, based on the practitioners own clinical experience or research based upon data collection and statistical analysis. Predictability is something we all appreciate in our lives because it gives us a sense of security and we aren't trying to prepare for the unforeseeable. This is obviously going to be intensified for someone dealing with P.T.S.D., but I'm not sure this is always the best way to approach things.
It makes sense to want predictability when we're talking about treating something purely physical like cancer or diabetes because, apart from superficial difference, humans are genetically and physically extremely similar. But when we're talking about mental health issues, and specifically something as difficult and isolating as P.T.S.D., I think what is more beneficial is working with a practitioner who approaches the client in the singularity of their situation.
Psychoanalytic theory - the strand that I practice - views P.T.S.D. as a person's response to being overwhelmed by something for which they weren't prepared - to the degree that it bypasses language and hits them at a physical level and at so singular a level that they cannot fully put into words the affects of what they have experienced. Words fail them. It is experienced, generally, by people who have come close to death - not that they have died, but they have come close to Death with a capital d.
We are all able to function in our everyday lives because on some level we don't actually believe that we are going to die. We see others die, we attend funerals, but death remains an abstract concept that we are able to keep at a distance. When we can't keep it at a distance, and when it is made suddenly and overwhelmingly real for us, the fantasy that keeps us functioning well is shattered.
My own work with people who have had what I would describe as P.T.S.D. has been a matter of listening to them in a way that allows them say as much as they can about their traumatic experiences while also being with them in the moments when words cannot convey what they are experiencing. It helped them to be able to go back to their families less burdened but they also knew that they could come and work with me for as long as they wanted. Personally and clinically I think this kind of approach is favourable to one where the practitioner implements a strong programme or directs the patient and not the treatment.
