By Gary Maguire, M.Sc., P.T.   http://www.linkedin.com/pub/gary-maguire-m-sc-p-t/7/455/449

PhysioSympath: The Path to Resilience ©

Welcome to Military Network’s new PTSD section.  Articles that appear in this section are aimed at reducing the stigma of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), strengthening resilience and providing new strategic solutions for PTSD treatment.

Emerging neurophysiology and physiotherapy medical devices are being developed to support mental healthcare professionals.  Your comments and feedback are welcome to improve the newsletter.

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“A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” - William Arthur Ward

Are You Being a True Friend to Yourself and Your Fellow Warriors?

A February 2010 study funded by the VA Health Services Research and Development found that between 2002 and 2008, nearly 50,000 veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars received diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD. But fewer than 10 percent of those completed the recommended treatment of 10 to 12 weekly sessions within four months; the number only grew to fewer than 30 percent over a year, the study authors found.

Some types of veterans are less likely to receive recommended care: males, veterans who are under the age of 25, those who live in rural areas and those who got their diagnoses at primary-care clinics and needed referrals to mental health programs, according to the report published online Feb. 9 in the Journal of Traumatic Stress (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123278210/abstract).

Dr. Karen Seal, the study’s head researcher and a practitioner at the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center, said in a news release that most veterans did attend at least one mental-health appointment. But problems — including those at the system and personal levels — led to lack of follow-up.

Is PTSD stigma winning the battle?  In PhysioSympath’s last newsletter (Vol 1/Num 4) we defined stigma and its methods.  The focus now is to develop resilience, fortitude and perseverance.  The study shows that those under 25, those who live in rural areas and those diagnosed at primary-care clinics and needed referrals to mental health programs are struggling.  The solution again is education as the weapon of choice to engage yourself and fellow warriors in the battle against PTSD.

Most people seek privacy with their healthcare issues.  When being tested sometimes a cheat sheet is necessary until a habit is formed.  A good cheat sheet to carry is: Resilience 101, a brochure by Pamela Woll, MA, CADP (ishttp://sites.google.com/site/humanprioritiesorg/home/resilience-101/Resilience101Brochure.pdf?).  This cheat sheet provides a cognizant start in befriending and trusting one’s self first and beginning to overcome fear.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address. (March 4, 1933).

The next step is to overcome anxiety and this involves clarity.  Clarity about what behavior or constellation of behaviors is the focus and leads to readiness.  One needs to distinguish between readiness to engage and readiness to change.  Try to view readiness as a complex phenomenon and not a simple mechanism like an “on-off” switch.

Carrying around the Resilience 101 cheat sheet leads to consciousness raising and self-revaluation.  It sets the stage for precontemplation.  This is why the study concluded that fewer than 10 percent finished the recommended PTSD treatment programs.  One needs to recognize their own PTSD disability with a beginning emphasis on treatment possibilities and functional outcome and then successfully participating and completing a PTSD program.

A warrior with PTSD will change voluntarily when:

• They become interested in or concerned about the need for change.
• They become convinced that the change is in their best interests or will benefit them more than cost them.
• They organize a plan of action that they are committed to implementing.
• They take the actions that are necessary to make the change and sustain the change.

The ninety percent diagnosed with PTSD who did not complete the recommended treatment of the prescribed 10-12 treatment sessions are in the precontemplation phase (not interested).  Choosing the Resilience 101 cheat sheet and carrying it around, glancing at it, touching it, possibly reading it, mulling it over and throwing it away and then making a new one leads to contemplation (considering).

PRECONTEMPLATION: The state in which there is little or no consideration of change of the current pattern of behavior in the foreseeable future. 45,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan with a diagnosis of PTSD are stuck in this stage of change behavior and 5000 made the change.  Stigma is winning and is an illusion and feeds precontemplation over and over.

Are You Being a True Friend to Yourself and Your Fellow Warriors?

The task for a PTSD warrior to care for themselves or a friend with PTSD is to first confront the challenge of precontemplation.  The mission is to increase awareness of the need for change and concern about the pattern of behavior; envision a possibility of change and why stigma has you in a stranglehold?

The goal:  Serious consideration of change for this behavior.  That is all there is to focus on (precontemplation versus contemplation).

CONTEMPLATION:  The stage where a PTSD warrior examines the current pattern of behavior and the potential for change in a risk-reward analysis.

The task for this to occur is the analysis of the pros and cons of the current behavior pattern and of the costs and benefits of change.  It is decision-making time.

The goal is a self considered evaluation that leads to a decision to change.  It comes from within and a real warrior can win the battle.  Contemplation begins to lay the foundation for inner strength, resilience and fortitude.  THINK ABOUT IT!

Do You Have the Strength to Look at the Resilience 101 Cheat Sheet?

Copyright © 2010 Gary Maguire, M.Sc., P.T., PhysioSympath.  All rights reserved.

Related posts:

1. PTSD and Neurophysiology [Vol 1/Num 6]
2. PTSD and Neurophysiology [Vol 1/Num 4]
3. PTSD and Neurophysiology [Vol 1/Num 3]
4. PTSD and Neurophysiology [Vol 1/Num 2]
5. PTSD and Neurophysiology