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Note from the Editor:

This article was written for the SDC by psychologist and member @Jan A. Jan A. works part-time, taking on clients under the Medicare Mental Health Care Plans. She works with people of all ages, from children to seniors!

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating psychological condition that arises when a person is exposed to events of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature. Symptoms include intrusive flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, anxiety, depression and hibernation.

In my practice, I have seen this condition many times. Causes I have observed in clients include car accidents, workplace stress, bullying, sudden bereavement, history of child abuse, medical trauma, domestic violence and assaults. Often, the first thing the person says is, 'I feel like I am going insane.'



Traumatic memories are very hard to eliminate. The mind holds onto memories it regards as important. These memories always have a high emotional load attached to them. In the case of PTSD, the memories have high levels of fear attached to them. Because they are highly emotional, these memories stick around, held high in the short-term memory. They pop up regularly, causing continued distress. The aim of treating traumatic memories is to reduce the emotional load and help the memories sink into long-term memory, where they are not popping up at regular intervals.



In this article, I will share two treatment approaches I developed to help people treat themselves at home. These approaches are based on similar treatments using mental imagery. My approaches use imagery and repetition to reduce the intensity of the PTSD response. They are not designed to treat every occurrence but can be effective in a range of cases.

Please note these methods are of my own creation. While they are based on proven treatment theories, they are not standard treatments with thorough research behind them. I have found them effective in my own practice, and I offer them in this article as a possible way for people to help themselves recover from trauma. They may or may not work for you, but are worth a try if your trauma fits the treatment model. If you find they are causing too much distress and you are not making progress, stop the treatment. Other treatments may be more suitable for you.

To begin, it is important to understand that PTSD is a reaction by the unconscious mind to the shock of feeling in mortal danger. The feelings of shock continue to reverberate through the conscious mind causing the person to develop severe avoidance behaviours.



As an evolutionary life-preserving mechanism, reactions to traumatic memories are intended to keep humans alert to mortal dangers around them. Think of prehistoric times when people lived in caves. The man would leave the cave to hunt for food for himself and his family or tribal group. Suddenly, a huge animal predator would jump out of the long grass and try to attack him. His survival drive will kick in. Desperate to escape, he will run back to his cave and barricade himself inside. He will wait a long time to make sure the predator is gone before he can bring himself to emerge from the cave. PTSD is like that. When a person is exposed to what their unconscious mind feels is mortal danger, they will 'run away' or withdraw from their normal life to protect themselves from exposure to further danger. This reaction acted as a useful life-preserving mechanism in the case of the prehistoric hunter, but it does not serve us well now. In fact, withdrawal will hinder recovery by preventing real-life exposure that is needed to reinforce that the danger is long gone.

The first treatment applies to a single event, such as an assault. Close your eyes and picture yourself sitting in a cinema. You are standing at the back and can see yourself sitting in about the 5th row, looking at the screen. The event starts to play in your mind, like a film on the screen. For example, a door opens, and an assault happens, then the perpetrators back ou,t and the door closes. Once the event is over, rewind the film, watching the events go backwards until the door closes again. While watching, move your eyes right to left, watching the events go backwards. Then rewind it again, faster this time. Then again and again, faster and faster, moving your eyes to watch the events rewind. Do this two or three times each day. Do not do this method just before bedtime, as it might generate bad dreams. At first, the process will be difficult as the person is bringing up bad memories, but as they continue with the process, they will find the trauma getting less and the process easier. Finally, the bad memory will remain, but it will not be at the forefront of the person’s mind, and the fear reaction will subside.



This method is based on theories related to dreaming. When people dream, their eyes move from side to side in their sleep to 'watch' the dream. This action is called 'Rapid Eye Movement.' The dreaming phase of sleep is called 'REM' sleep. Dreaming is thought to be a way that the mind uses to relieve its stress. Adopting rapid eye movement in treating trauma is thought to assist in relieving the stress created by the trauma and reduce PTSD symptoms. Practitioners of 'Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing' (EMDR) use a more complex version of this kind of treatment. It has been proven to be successful as a treatment for trauma.

The second method is designed for single images, such as the face of an abuser or the image of an accident victim. Close your eyes and picture the image. Then explode it like a computer image made up of pixels. Watch the pixels rise up and fall like a fountain. Then do it again, and again, and again. Keep doing this as much as you reasonably can. Perhaps when walking or jogging, explode the image with each footstep. Eventually, the image will fade. You may still see a shadow of it, but the details will fade, and the fear will fade with it.

This method is a form of visual desensitisation. By doing this 'explosion' of the image, you are telling the unconscious you do not want this image any more and you want to erase it. If the memory pops up again, explode it as before.



Rewards are important in therapy. When you have engaged in one of these therapies, give yourself a reward. Perhaps go for a walk around your garden and admire the plants. Maybe reward yourself with a food you like. Perhaps relax with a cup of tea and play some music. These therapies involve recollections that are unpleasant. Giving yourself a reward afterwards will help encourage you to continue the therapy.
As well as prescription medications, herbal remedies might assist with reducing PTSD symptoms. The herbal medicines company, Metagenics, produces a range of treatments designed to calm the anxious mind. These may assist in reducing the anxiety associated with PTSD, helping the person to free themselves from anxiety. These non-prescription herbal medicines are available through GPs and allied health workers. Conveniently, they are also available from eBay. They can give support to prescription medications. Always check first to see that herbal medicine does not clash with any prescriptions being used at the same time. Most will not clash, but it is best to be sure. They average about $65 per bottle of 60 tablets. For PTSD, suitable products would be NeuroCalm and MetaRelax.

PTSD will take your life from you if you let it. If you are haunted by PTSD, do not let it win. Attack it with everything you can until you eliminate the symptoms and reclaim your well-being. The fears associated with PTSD are mostly focused on anticipating the event happening again, unlikely as that may be in reality. Sometimes it is focussed on how much worse the situation could have been, such as it could have been fatal for you or someone else. It might be that your livelihood was threatened, and you suffered shock at the potential loss of your home and damage to your family’s welfare. It could be that there was a sudden bereavement, and the life-long loss of that bereavement is reverberating as if it had just now happened.



Whatever the cause of PTSD, focusing on the present and planning for a safe future will help oppose the effects of past traumatic events. These events are in the past. Leave them there. Refuse to drag them like an anchor into your future, causing continued damage to your well-being. Your future is worth all your efforts to make it a happy and safe one.

From the Editor:

Looking for immediate support? Here is a list of free mental health helplines.

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Want to read more from member @Jan A? Here are her other articles for easy reference:

• Some Facts About Phobias
• Can Dreams Predict the Future?
• @Jan A’s Member Spotlight: ‘Be unpredictable: they hate that!’
• COERCIVE CONTROLLERS
• BECOMING AN EFFECTIVE COUNSELLOR
• NARCISSISTS, PSYCHOPATHS AND SOCIOPATHS
• Nightmares and Sleep Terrors
• OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER
• ADHD AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
• Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
• From the Experts: Clerical Abuse
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Please note this advice is general in nature. You should consult with your GP.