PTSD: THE COURAGE TO COPE
Web Seminar Series

The Courage Community is proud to announce its affiliation with The National Pain Foundation, an organization that offers information, education, and support that connects persons living with pain to each other and to those who can help. 

Join National Pain Foundation Board Member Dr. Albert Ray, and Dr. Maria Elena Collazo of Pain Medicine Solutions in Florida, for a web series that will explore ways to treat pain and PTSD. They will offer insight into EMDR and other treatment options available to veterans.

The NPF offers an online directory of pain care providers, reliable and accurate information about pain conditions and treatment options, and stories of hope for those living with pain. Someone you know is in pain - now there is help. Visit The National Pain Foundation today.

"Introduction to PTSD: The Courage to Cope"

It's estimated that 47% of veterans returning from conflicts in the Middle East suffer debilitating chronic pain associated with physical, emotional and psychological trauma sustained during harrowing tours of duty.

Veterans often have to deal with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in addition to the physical pain and trauma they have sustained on the battlefield. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)* is a treatment for PTSD that has been shown to treat stress and PTSD more quickly and effectively than talk therapy.

• PTSD is not an emotional or psychological problem. It is disordered brain function, and happens from trauma to the brain. NO relationship to weakness beforehand. Matters not how your mother raised you, etc, matters only if your brain got traumatized




• Can happen to the bravest or weakest of soldiers, from generals to privates. Analogy to train: if train makes 10 stops to pick things up on a circuit, if someone switches the track, the train then has to run on a different track until someone switches it back. In the meantime, the train may function, but not as efficiently or completely as the original track intended




• Symptoms of PTSD: what the person lives with. Numbing, explosions likened to emotional seizures= not voluntary loss of control, sleeplessness and nightmares, flashbacks, hallucinations, guilt, isolation, fear of “letting go and being me again,” “gotta maintain control” and the restrictions this puts on a person’s function and comfort level




• Impact on them, their families, their ability to work and maintain jobs




• Not alone: 95% of Iraq soldiers are placed in regular danger, see friends, soldiers, civilians, children mutilated and killed




• Brain memory storage is 3 dimensional: what makes the flashbacks so real, what makes triggers of all kinds, and why little things can set off a whole reaction




• High incidence of suicide and divorce as a result of the impact on life




• Treatments available are designed to help person regain better sense of control over their lives. Best treatment is EMDR because it resets the train track and allows the person to “let go” and be “their old self again” without having to worry about “will something here set me off”. Takes away the hypervigilance guarding all the time




• Anyone with a PTSD is stronger if they seek help, Share the problem with their buddies, seek help, return to normal lifestyle without fear of “being me” causing problems

Maria Elena Collazo, Psy.D
Psychologist, Pain Medicine Solutions
EMDR specialist for the treatment of PTSD

Read Maria's bio here.

Albert Ray, MD
Board Certified Pain Medicine Specialist
Co-founder, Pain Medicine Solutions
Chairman of the Board, The National Pain Foundation

Read Dr. Ray's bio here.

 

*EMDR is the most recognized treatment for the symptoms of PTSD and has been endorsed by the Department of Defense and the Office of Veterans Affairs.