Month: May 2024

My experience working with PTSD is that you can recover from it. I have also found there are some who do not wish to give up their PTSD. There may be several reasons for this, one being they are part of a brotherhood of others who they went through events that gave them meaning. It may be they are afraid they will forget someone from the past. It is also true that most individuals living with the disorder have little hope of recovery. Recovery from PTSD means the criteria for the disorder are no longer met. It does not mean all of the challenges of PTSD have gone away. The work in moving past PTSD is hard. After recovery from PTSD other mental health challenges may exist but not PTSD.

An individual’s response to trauma is highly complex with multiple systems of the body affected. One of the defense mechanisms that allows individuals with PTSD to successfully cope with stimuli in the environment is dissociation. Dissociation supports resilience but it may also leave one fragmented, making it difficult to respond naturally to conversations and decision making. It takes significant effort trying to manage the multiple paths of communication coming into consciousness at the same time when parts are fragmented. Those who become dissociative as a result of severe complex trauma can get past their history and give up defenses that were necessary for coping when they recognize the former threat is not longer present in their lives. This distress caused by childhood trauma is les distressing.

Military personnel may fit into the category of those who are conflicted about giving up their PTSD. They have a bond with others with similar experiences; including the loss of comrades and other life and death experiences. They may want to hold on to their past and the trauma that went with it because it gave them meaning. They typically limit their contacts and support system to others with similar experiences. It is difficult for some to move on. It is common for them to want to return to the combat arena where they left their team.

I am not a fan of group therapy for individuals who have been diagnosed with PTSD where their traumatic event is discussed. It is difficult to manage the heightened subjective units of disturbance (SUD) in a group setting when being reminded of the trauma of others. If the level of distress nears its maximum limit the member will likely be retraumatized, making recovery more challenging. If the purpose of the group therapy is to establish tools for coping and managing they symptoms a support group work may be beneficial.

I have found and studies support that there is a high correlation between PTSD and childhood developmental trauma and experiences of attachment. If a feeling of security and safety was not experienced in childhood someone is going to go through life feeling unsafe unless attachment is experienced with a partner or through a healthy motherhood experience.

A significant stressor affecting mental health is the stress brought about by a job. Stress from a job is unfortunately taken out on those individuals who mean the most, the family. I have witnessed on more than one occasion where a new manager can take a rewarding and fulfilling job and turn it into a job where the employee does not look forward to going to work. Good managers are worth their weight in gold, both to the organization and heath of a community and should be rewarded accordingly.

The management of most companies and governmental agencies is underwhelming. In the organizations I have been part of, investigated, and where clients have struggled, it has been rare that effective management exists. A good manager can create an environment where employees are rewarded for taking on stressful tasks. I have found working with clients with high stress jobs the greatest stressor is often not the work, but their peers or management. An effective manager will see the problems that occur and take corrective action. Their primary objective should be supporting their staff and motivating those working below their potential to find the desire to perform at a higher level.

There needs to be a significant increase in reward to motivate individuals with the rare character assets required for leadership. Leadership takes unique skills in communication, sales, and vision for the future. There are many reasons someone might not want to be in management. The pay increase may not be worth the extra work and time expected of management. There may not be sufficient peer support at that level and job performance will be evaluated differently. If the promotion requires a move to a geographically undesirable location and when a family is making the move other factors must be considered. All too often the management job goes to the individual raising his hand, since no one wants the job and the headaches that go with it. Creating an environment where staff are willing to be supervisors/leaders and take on the additional and unique responsibilities of management requires significant support at all levels. And in the best organizations those skills will be exhibited and developed at all levels.