Transcript
There are various treatments for PTSD, and some,
there are a lot of often problems that come along with PTSD
like drinking a lot, like getting really angry,
and so there are groups and there are treatments
for anger management, for helping to decrease alcohol
or substance use, and some treatments for PTSD focus more
on symptom management, so, trying to find ways of feeling safe
in environments that don't feel safe
but are objectively quite safe.
There are other treatments that focus on helping you
to gain control of your emotions
so they don't feel all out of whack
or up in really big extremes.
And so, those are treatments that focus more on symptoms
if that's kind of what you want to focus on right now.
We know, though, that the best treatment
to really directly address PTSD is to focus
on the trauma memory, the worst ever memory that you have,
and that's awfully scary to think about doing, and so often,
the other treatments can be precursors to that
and help you kind of step by step get ready to talk
about your trauma memory.
As you're going through these other treatments,
you're gaining skills
to help manage all the other symptoms that come with PTSD.
Eventually, you may decide to go in
and focus on your trauma memory really directly,
and it depends on the timing.
If there's a lot of chaos and crises in your life,
it may not be the best time to do it.
But when you feel pretty stable and you're feeling
like you really want to do this, then that's the time to talk
about it and see if that's the right treatment for you.