Mental Health Drop In Center

Speaking Openly About PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Posted on January 24th, 2012 by doodlemaster

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

This condition is one most often associated with soldiers returning from war. It has been recognised as a mental health side effect of war since wars began, but only now does it have a label and a treatment plan. PTSD can affect others who have experienced a traumatic event too. This could be a serious, life threatening assault, being involved in a terrorist incident, kidnapping, sexual or physical abuse, a motor vehicle accident, natural disasters or the sudden and unexpected death of a loved one.

All such traumatic events overwhelm our nervous system with emotions we find hard to process. We are left feeling helpless and full of despair. It is quite normal to react to events such as these with behaviours such as anxiety, sleeplessness, feeling numb and disconnected from reality, feelings of anger and a fear of losing control. You may suffer nightmares, during which you revisit the trauma, as your mind desperately tries to make sense of what has happened. These responses are totally normal.

PTSD is different to this normal reaction, in that the symptoms do not fade over weeks or months. They actually get worse. The normal reaction to trauma becomes a way of thinking that cannot be changed, and will worsen if treatment is not sought early. In addition to the normal worries and stresses of life, such as managing your job demands, or wondering where to get debt help, matters can quickly escalate, leaving you feeling out of control.

Don’t Wait

If you think you are suffering from PTSD then don’t delay seeing your doctor and telling him of your symptoms. These can be some, or all of the following well recognised features of PTSD:

Re-experiencing the traumatic event – this can include flashbacks to the traumatic event, when you may feel like it is actually happening again, nightmares, feeling intense emotional distress when reminded of the traumatic events, including physical symptoms of rapid heart-beat, increased breathing, muscle tension, sweating etc.

Avoidance and Numbing – you may do all you can to avoid situations or places which remind you of the trauma; you may feel cut off from reality and stuck inside your head; you may have memory-loss surrounding the traumatic events; you may stop doing things that normally you enjoy; you may feel that you will never have a normal life again.

Increased anxiety – You may suffer insomnia (an inability to fall asleep, or stay asleep); you may find you are intensely irritable and experience sudden loss of temper with people or events; you may have great difficulty concentrating – unable to read for example; you might find you startle easily, jumping at the smallest sound; you may find you are what is called ‘hyper-vigilant’, which means your body feels it is on constant standby to deal with an emergency, and hyper aware of threat, even when there is no reason to feel threatened.

These are just some of the more widely known symptoms of PTSD, but there are many others, including a tendency towards substance abuse to cope with the anxiety and numbness; feelings of guilt or shame, suicidal thoughts, and depression. PTSD is a very serious condition indeed. If you think you have PTSD you should see your doctor as soon as possible. The sooner this condition is treated the better chance you have of cure.

Treatment

There are a range of treatments available for PTSD, and your doctor will probably send you to a specialist who deals with the condition. You may be offered Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy to help you re-experience the trauma, enabling your brain to process it more successfully and help you feel more in control of your memories. The memories have a powerful hold on you and you need to regain control of the emotions surrounding them. Through talking with your therapist you will be able to release the fear and guilt you may feel about what happened, and learn to deal with flashbacks and intrusive thoughts. Family therapy will help you reflect on the effect the PTSD has had on those around you. Families and loved ones are often bewildered by the symptoms of PTSD and feel powerless to help. This can lead to tensions and arguments. When the whole family, or those close to you, understand what is happening they will feel better able to help when you are suffering.

Medication may also be offered. Anti-depressant medication will help you deal with the symptoms of PTSD. It can be very effective in treating the symptoms of depression and anxiety, but medication alone will not treat the serious underlying condition, which needs specialist help. One type of specialist help available is called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) This pioneering treatment combines cognitive behavioural therapy with eye movements or tapping rhythmically to stimulate different parts of the brain. It had had startlingly good results. It is thought to work by unfreezing the part of the brain that has become ‘paralysed’ during extreme stress, enabling it to process information again.

It is important that you discuss the full range of treatment options with your doctor. Make sure he understands that this is not just depression and anxiety. Treatments for PTSD are improving all the time, and the chances are you will be greatly helped if you seek help. Here are some useful sites to look at if you want to do more research into your condition:

Further Reading

National Institute for Mental Health:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml

US Army Medical Department – Army Behavioural Health:
http://www.behavioralhealth.army.mil/

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Filed under: Mental Health Disorders, Stress Management

How We Influence People With Our Minds

Posted on January 22nd, 2012 by Scott

How often have you felt that someone was staring at you? You probably turned around and immediately caught the gaze of the “starer”. Or maybe you’ve unintentionally done this to someone else.

What has not been realized until quite recently is that when you focus on another person, either within eyesight or geographically distant, then that person subconsciously picks up on your attention.

Further still, their physiology changes slightly. Their blood pressure increases for a start …and there are other measurable changes.

Human minds appear to act like an international telephone exchange. When you focus on someone…you “connect” directly with them. There is no error…the connection is always made.

This fact was suspected for a long time, but until recently there had been no serious research on it. Then along came the remote viewers. And what they discovered absolutely stunned the scientists who had an interest in this field.

The remote viewers found that not only could they “connect” with their target person in real time….but they could connect at specified times in the past and in the future!

That is…they would remote view (connect with) an individual….but before doing so would specify exactly the time and date that they wished to do so. It was found that they could remotely influence a person‘s physiology in the past and in the future. This is totally astounding knowledge.

Please remember that each and every individual affects other people all the time. If you drive your car down the road slowly and hold up traffic behind you…then you are affecting others.

The mere fact that you are reading this means that I have affected you. You could have been doing something else right at this instant. All we are doing with remote influencing is affecting people in a slightly different way….remotely.
It is merely an extension of your day to day interaction with others.

If you happen to be in a foul mood and enter a room full of people, then they subconsciously pick this up off you and avoid you. That is uncontrolled remote influencing. What you are learning here is controlled remote influencing.

You can use it to your advantage…and to the advantage of the other person. If you use it to harm them….then you are very likely to have the exercise bounce back on you some time in the future…with a considerable interest percentage added on!

Once you have mastered the process….you will simply find that things go your way. This is because you are unconsciously using subjective influence without even being aware of it. It becomes an automatic process.

When you focus on a project intently then your remote influencing abilities come into play and make it happen. It will appear to you as if you are suddenly having a run of good luck. Don’t knock it…ride with it. And don’t be afraid of it because it is a natural talent that you were born with. For the first time in your life you will have it under control.

The key is mental imagery. You must be able to visualize imagery well, and imagine feelings. The most difficult period is in the beginning. You must watch for every small indication that you are exerting some influence on the other person, and then build upon that.

Like learning to ride a bicycle, it becomes easier as it progresses, and finally become almost like second nature. It is this very difficult initial step that keeps this phenomenon from being more widely used. After you have become proficient, you will find that you do not need to see the person you are trying to influence, nor do you need to be in the proximity of that person.

In fact distance seems to have no effect on the phenomenon, just as it has no effect on paired quantum particles. Remote projection, like remote viewing, requires a relaxed mind and body. This is where your alpha training comes in.

With remote viewing you struggle to become aware of what is coming in from the matrix. With remote projection you are focusing on what you are sending out. That is….you are projecting tightly controlled imagery. You clearly shape your thoughtform, fill it with the necessary energy…then release the thought to the target you have chosen.

You must be very clear in your mind exactly what it is you wish to project. Waffly half formed thoughts will go nowhere. That is the first step. The second step is in releasing the thought. You fire this compressed energy thought-ball at the target…then promptly forget all about it. You DO NOT dwell on it.

This is the same process that is used for psychokinetic experiments. You fire the energy…then promptly think about something else. Most psychokinetic effects happen after you’ve stopped trying. You really have to become aware that what you think and what you feel is changing the world outside yourself!!!

Your thoughts have energy….this has actually been measured. And when you intently focus these thoughts they develop a resonant energy. Then when you direct this resonance toward one particular person …with absolute single-minded intensity …that energy will be imparted to that target person and affect them.

You can design your life circumstances by consciously designing and focusing your thought patterns and accompanying intensity.

In developing projective skills remember that whatever you project outward will be reflected in your environment so destructive projections will adversely affect your environment. This is why people who dwell on things that they fear…and impart projective energy to these thoughts…usually self-destruct by creating their own personal disasters.

Once you learn these projective skills you must never dwell on negative destructive activities. The purpose of developing this projective ability is to firstly improve your own life…then the life of those around you that you care for.

by Jim Francis
————————————————————-
This was taken from Mind Surge – The Consciousness Revolution worth $29.95.

To get this ebook for FREE, which includes The complete Dream Programming Technique revealed for free for the very first time, visit this link now – FREE Mind Power Secrets

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Posted by: Scott Barker
http://MentalHealthDropInCenter.com – Owner/Founder

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Filed under: Self Help, Self-Improvement

Positive Quotes – January 14th, 2012

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by Scott

Positive Quotes to Help Brighten Your Day.

1) “There’s nothing wrong with having nothing to say – unless you insist on saying it.” (unknown author)

2) “People can save themselves from many hard falls by refraining from jumping to conclusions.”
(unknown author)

3) “Don’t go for looks, they can deceive. Don’t go for wealth, even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.” (unknown author)

4) “Love is like swallowing hot chocolate before it has cooled off. It takes you by surprise at first, but keeps you warm for a long time.” (unknown author)

5) “We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.” (David Bailey)

6) “The best method of proving that you have good judgment is by not relying upon it alone.”
(unknown author)

7) “Experience Is a hard teacher because it never tells you in advance what your next lesson will be.”
(unknown author)

8) “There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them.” (Phyllis Bottome)

9) “The only way to learn anything thoroughly is by starting at the bottom, unless you are learning how to swim.” (unknown author)

The above quotes are from:
Penny Press Variety Puzzles and Games – March 2011 issue

Posted by Scott Barker- EzineArticles- Expert Author

Do you have a favorite quote you would like to share? You can share it by making a comment below. You can also e-mail me your favorite quotes by Clicking Here

Please feel free to share these quotes with anyone. For more positive quotes on my blog, go to: Positive Quotes

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Filed under: Affirmations/Positive Quotes, Motivation

Positive Quotes – January 9th, 2012

Posted on January 9th, 2012 by Scott

Positive Quotes to Help Brighten Your Day.

1) “It is amazing how much people can get done if they do not worry about who gets the credit.”
(Sandra Swinney)

2) “Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome.” (Samuel Johnson)

3) “It is far better to know our own weaknesses and failings than to point out those of another.”
(Jawaharlal Nehru)

4) “The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.”
(Elizabeth Foley)

5) “By sowing the seeds of our dreams today, we are investing in our tomorrows.” (unknown author)

6) “Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.” (Tom Lehrer)

7) “Take just a minute from your day to practice random kindness.” (unknown author)

8) “Sometimes we are limited more by attitude than by opportunities.” (unknown author)

9) “A contented person is one who enjoys the scenery along the detour.” (unknown author)

The above quotes are from:
Penny Press Variety Puzzles and Games – March 2011 issue

Posted by Scott Barker- EzineArticles- Expert Author

Do you have a favorite quote you would like to share? You can share it by making a comment below. You can also e-mail me your favorite quotes by Clicking Here

Please feel free to share these quotes with anyone. For more positive quotes on my blog, go to: Positive Quotes

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Filed under: Affirmations/Positive Quotes, Motivation

Positive Quotes – January 1st, 2012

Posted on January 1st, 2012 by Scott

Positive Quotes to Help Brighten Your Day.

1) “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.” (Mother Teresa)

2) “No rule of success will work if you don’t.” (unknown author)

3) “Great art can’t hold a candle to a kindergarten picture painted with love.” (unknown author)

4) “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the extra you put into it.” (unknown author)

5) “Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.” (unknown author)

6) “Life is filled with momentary pleasures: the sting of a good shower waking us up; the transient scent of a flower. Let us never get too busy to notice the simple pleasures in our lives.” (unknown author)

7) “Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” (Mark Twain)

8) “When you are in the right you can afford to hold your temper, and when you are in the wrong, you cannot afford to lose it.” (unknown author)

9) “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. (George S. Patton)

10) “Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” (Joseph Addison)

11) “Fortunately for children, the uncertainties of the present always give way to the enchanted possibilities of the future.” (Gelsey Kirkland)

12) “It is generally unwise to raise an issue when one is not prepared to accept the likely response.”
(unknown author)

The above quotes are from:
Penny Press Merit Variety Puzzles and Games – July 2011 issue

Posted by Scott Barker- EzineArticles- Expert Author

Do you have a favorite quote you would like to share? You can share it by making a comment below. You can also e-mail me your favorite quotes by Clicking Here

Please feel free to share these quotes with anyone. For more positive quotes on my blog, go to: Positive Quotes