Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition which follows a deep psychological trauma. It is important to understand that there are two parts to your nervous system: one you can control (when you decide to do a movement such as lifting your arm up to drink a cup of tea), and one you can’t control (which keeps your lungs functioning, and heart beating and which is linked to your emotions and stress levels). The system you can’t control can be divided again into two systems: one which slows your body down and repairs it, and one which speeds it up. We are particularly interesting in the one which speeds the nervous system up: this is called the sympathetic nervous system.

During high stress or a sudden trauma the sympathetic nervous system becomes hyperactive to help you cope with the situation (your heart beats faster to provide more blood to the muscles, your breathing gets faster to provide more oxygen). This is the alert mode of your body: a survival reaction. Normally after the threat has passed, your body will release a hormone bringing everything back to normal. Sometimes this alert reaction persists for a few days or weeks. This is what we call post traumatic stress. When the hormone is not released or is insufficiently released, and the alert reaction persists more than a month, we consider Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (a more severe condition) a possibility.

Symptoms can include:

• nightmares,
• flash backs of the incident bringing physical reactions,
• repeatedly remembering the event,
• losing interest in life,
• feeling separated from others,
• not experiencing many feelings,
• being on alert all the time, trouble sleeping,
• feeling guilty,
• trouble remembering things,
• beginning to avoid your life,
• reacting to things that resemble your trauma,
• feeling sad about what happened,
• telling the same incident over and over,
• troubles with intimacy or relationships,
• developing an eating disorder, drinking or chemical abuse disorder,
• trying to control other people,
• trying to control the events in your life,
• not leaving your house.

Myosteopractic assists with Post Traumatic Stress by introducing techniques that help the body to move back into parasympathetic and by releasing deep seated emotion. Psychological support by a professional may be necessary as work on the body can bring back emotions which are often challenging to deal with.