Geoff walked into my therapy room for the first time and did something quite unusual. He picked up the chair I had suggested he sit in and carried it over to the wall. He placed it firmly up against the wall and then sat down. Geoff is a veteran of a number of tours of duty to the Middle East. One of his military friends had died in his arms as a result of an IED (Improvised Explosive device) that had exploded through the side of their armoured vehicle while they were on patrol.
The explanation for Geoff’s unusual behaviour is that it had become a habit for him to never sit with his back to a door or any sort of open space so that he could always surveil his surroundings and ensure that no one could creep up behind him. One of the terms for this is hypervigilance. It is one of the common symptoms of PTSD. When I commented on Geoff’s behaviour he looked a little startled and said that he hadn’t consciously performed this action, he’d just done it automatically.
One doesn’t have to have experienced military service to suffer from PTSD. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that may develop after a person has been through some form of the traumatic event. Hostages; victims of crime or torture; car accidents; natural disasters, or any event (especially when they happen suddenly) where the person is fearful for their safety or the safety of others and often feel that they have no control over the traumatic situation, can develop PTSD.
Other symptoms of PTSD are recurring nightmares; Insomnia; chronic irritability; free-floating anxiety; avoiding thinking about the traumatic event and flashbacks where the sufferer re-experiences the traumatic event usually triggered by something that reminds them of the event, such as a smell or a sudden loud noise - the classic line in the Red Gum song, ‘I was only 19’, “And can you tell me, doctor, why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?” is a stunningly grim description of this symptom. In fact, the whole song is a vivid description of the symptoms suffered by individuals who have PTSD.
Photo by Alena Darmel: https://www.pexels.com/photo/father-and-son-listening-to-music-7322198/
Clearly, PTSD is a very debilitating, very painful psychological condition but it can be successfully treated. Firstly the experience of the PTSD sufferer must be validated. It is no good trying to suggest that the event never happened or to minimize it. Not only does this not work it is also an insult to the person suffering from PTSD. Therapy cannot wipe out the reality of what the person has experienced but it can help them gradually deal with the symptoms previously described. The key to this is to assist the individual to be able to catch and observe the symptoms when they arise and then to remind themselves that even though the trauma did happen it is now over.
The traumatic event is stored in the memory ‘bank’ of the individual. It is like a movie in their own head and like any movie, or any well-made movie it seems real, it is compelling. One need only look around at the people in a movie theatre to see how compelling real movies seem - one can observe people, smiling, weeping, laughing, frowning, etc, - the people watching a movie are for all intents and purposes living the story along with the actors. PTSD sufferers can learn to catch themselves reliving their own movie; remind themselves that although the event did once happen, it is now ‘just’ a movie, and then make a decision as to whether they still want to watch the movie. Through therapy, the person with PTSD can learn strategies and techniques that will assist them to get up and leave their own personal cinema behind and walk out into the real world and their own real life.