Treating trauma: The challenges of PTSD
Monda ywill mark the threemonth anniversary of the Parkland shooting.
While some aspects of the event’s aftermath have stayed in the headlines, for folks not directly impacted, the natural tendencyisto move on.
However, for the many people directly or tangentially affected by the tragedy, truly dealing with the emotional repercussions either hasn’t started — or is in its earliest stages.
And that’s concerning for local mental-health experts like Boca Raton psychotherapist Kristen Bomas and North Palm Beach psychotherapist Angela Cusimano.
“People cope with exposure to this kind of trage dyindifferent ways,” Bomas explains. “But one thing is certain: If they don’t deal with the emotional fallout, it won’t simply heal over time.”
“Often after a traumatic event like this, there’s an acute stress response — but it can take quite a while for the shock to wear off, the emotional dust to settle and for the real effects to be felt,” added Cusimano.
The concern is that Marjory Stoneman Douglas students, teachers, staff, as well as Broward County first responders, and the extended families, friends and loved ones of all those impacted need to be aware of how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may affect them.
Trauma sufferers — especially in a singular event that incl udesv iolence or death — usually experience PTSD in one of three ways:
■ The symptoms and effects are apparent immediately after the event.
■ The initial shock of the event gradually dissipates in the weeks and months afterward — and the symptoms begin.
■ The sufferer d oeshisorher best to bury the symptoms as deeply as possible; what inevitably happens, though, is that the symptoms eventually surface at a much later time — and usually inamoreint ense and unpredictable way.
Bomas noted t hat it’ s the second and third groups that are especially vulnerable right now.
“Usually, two to three months after a traumatic event is when the shock wears off andt he PTSD symptoms start kicking in.”
In the days immediately following the shooti ng,B omas spoke with several first responders who were having trouble coping with the brutality of the carnage.
“Paramedics, firefighters, police officers — they’re all trained to deal with trauma professionally, and even they lost the ability to compartmentalize what they experienced,” Bomas explained.
And that’s to say nothing of the youngsters who are still navigating what is now their new emotional normal.
Isolation, avoidance, sudden emotional outbursts, excessive sleeping, changes in appetite — they’re all potential early warning signs of PTSD.
Cusimano noted that one of the most effective treatments for PTSD recovery is a modality called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
“EMDR helps to access that part of the brain where the trauma lives and allows the individual to process the images, beliefs and feelings from those experiences,” explained Cusimano of the evidence-based treatment in which she’s trained. “Essentially, EMDR helps the individual to revisit where they became stuck in the trauma and allows the brain to heal and recover from traumatic experiences, regardless of when the trauma took place.”
When Bomas and Cusimano treat PTSD sufferers, they said they prioritize teaching their clients the kind of coping skills — i.e., breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques, meditation, etc. — that will help them minimize recurrences of the worst of their symptoms.
And for severe PTSD sufferers for whom conventional psychotherapy has proven ineffectual, there’s growing evidence that equine therapy can be a beneficial alternative.
“You can recover from trauma and PTSD,” said Bomas. “But the longer you wait to deal with it, the harder it becomes.”