Social workers report that the rate of PTSD among veterans and active military personnel is significantly higher than in the general population. PTSD occurs when one branch of the nervous system generates massive amounts of survival (fight or flight) energy to meet a threat, only to find the threat so overwhelming that there’s no way to use this energy for self-protection.
MODERN WARFARE
Although combat trauma has always been one of the primary causes of post-traumatic stress disorder, terrorism has changed the nature of modern warfare. Guerrilla warfare, improvised explosive devises, civilian combatants, and suicide bombers have increased the intensity of the stress suffered by conventional soldiers in battle. The current symptoms of PTSD such as hyper-vigilance, anxiety, emotional flooding, insomnia, and an exaggerated startle response all paint a grim picture of life on the modern battlefield.
SUFFERING GOES DEEP
Recent studies suggest that the unique nature of the trauma suffered in modern warfare has intensified post-traumatic stress and drilled the stress beyond the cerebral cortex down into the limbic brain. The nervous system has been put on permanent high alert, not by memories stored in the cortex, but by memories stored in the limbic (emotional) center of the brain. Physiologic symptoms trigger psychological problems; not the other way round.
Many veterans with PTSD attempt to mute the intensity of this chronic nervous activation through social withdrawal, avoidance of stimuli, numbing, or by abusing substances. By the time they begin counseling many veterans have come to see their bodies as something to fear, dissociate from, or brace against as their nervous systems repeatedly respond to perceived threats.
Dave Berger, (MFT, LCMHC, PT, MA, SEP) offers the example of a client who served in the Iraq War for whom “sitting still” was a source of distress. In the course of therapy, they discovered that the behavior of sitting still had become over-coupled with fear and an instantaneous autonomic nervous system response as if preparing for an attack.
A NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACH
Social workers and therapists are beginning to see promising results using a new approach called Somatic Experiencing (SE). SE seeks to help clients access their innate resilience, re-regulate their nervous systems, and heal their minds, hearts, and relationships so that history can become history instead of living as if the trauma were still present. For SE practitioners, trauma is a response to an event that dis-regulates the normal physiological processes of the nervous system, keeping it in a constant state of threat response.
Talk therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy, where the vets talk out their trauma experiences with a therapist, has been the traditional approach. Rather than starting with a focus on the trauma narrative, SE starts by enhancing veterans’ awareness of the energy and physical sensations occurring in their bodies. When vets recall the combat traumas they suffered, Berger says the idea is to “pause the story when there is nervous activation, fear, or anxiety present and allow it to dissipate before moving forward.” Uncoupling physiological elements and restoring a natural flow to the nervous system is a primary goal of SE. By enlisting the body as an ally and source of information, veterans gain increased confidence that they are in control. The trauma is not in control of them.
ADMIRATION
All of us here at Global Vision Technologies consider it an honor to be partners with the social workers who work tirelessly to find new ways to help our wounded sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Where would we be without you?
