Treating PTSD: Meet Your Mind

From the minute we wake in the morning to the time we go to bed at night we’re making decisions, choices, assessments and assumptions. It begins when the alarm goes off and we decide to get up or go back to sleep. It continues with whether we shower first or brush our teeth, put on work clothes or leisure outfits, slip into loafers or tie laces. We make an endless slew of decisions before we even get out of the house.

But how aware are we of those decisions? These daily tasks become so rote we don’t really need to think about them, or do we? The answer is, Yes we do. What happens though is the neural pathways of our habits fire so quickly we don’t even notice.

However, if you slow down the habitual thoughts the truth is we’re constantly thinking things we don’t even realize. We’re thinking about how late we can be, how many moments eating breakfast will take, which shampoo to use in the shower. To take any action the mind must retrieve information, make a picture and then follow through.

Imagine what this means in terms of PTSD. Those of us who struggle with post-traumatic stress have developed a wonderfully proficient habit. We think about the past as easily and effortlessly as we decide whether or not to get out of bed in the morning. We’re constantly making pictures which produce emotions, actions and behaviors — not all of them good, appropriate or healthy.

In order to heal we have to take back our mental power. PTSD is not a THING, it is a state of mind. Is changing that state easy? No! Will it require work? Massive amounts! But the fact of the matter is that while it feels like PTSD is separate from us (and bigger and stronger) we actually create it. Sure, we have a physiological response to trauma. But guess what? That physiological response comes from thoughts that produce feelings. I confirmed this with the neuroscientists at the truama conference. You know what this means? Our minds create the state we know as PTSD.

That’s the fact, plain and simple. To underscore it, think about this: Many other people experience traumas like ours and do not get PTSD. Only about 20% of the survivor population ends up where we do, which means it’s incredibly possible not to end up where we do. Think about that. It has enormous implications.

Changing our state of mind then changes the circumstances of our PTSD, in many ways. For example, we can change our state from fear to safety, doubt to curiosity, depression to joy, anxiety to inspiration. The list goes on and on. The more we change the more we heal. It’s a simple equation. Tough to do but entirely possible with the right support, help and perspective.

Something to remember: Feelings don’t occur in a vaccuum; they come from thoughts. No emotion can exist without a preceding thought.

Think about that today. And think about what you’re thinking. Slow down your habitual thought processes, notice them, mark them one by one and then separate them out.  In PTSD your mind is working at warp speed every moment with nothing stopping it. Only you can intervene and redirect its path.

BRIDGE THE GAP EXERCISE 

Whenever you feel a surge of emotion stop what you’re doing, go back a few seconds, locate the thought (what did you see, feel, hear, smell, taste?) that immediately preceeded the unwanted feeling. Become aware of how you yourself are creating how you feel. Meet your mind – and then get friendly with it. You’ve got some collaborating to do.

(Photo: ***M!!//!***)

Tags: Changing Unhealthy Perceptions, heal, posttraumatic stress, ptsd, symptoms, treat