"PTSD"

Dear Twizzletop90,

Thank you for sharing some of the difficulties you've been having; coping with the after-effects of any traumatic experience (whether it's diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or not) can be extremely difficult. As you mention, anxiety, panic attacks and nightmares can be common symptoms for those who have survived the type of trauma you describe.

You don't mention if you've received help from our service, but I know that there are many people who seek our help in dealing with trauma. Some of the treatments we offer include trauma focused cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDR); both treatments have been shown to be very effective in working with trauma and helping people to recovery from their difficult experiences. Using these therapies can help to reduce the emotional intensity of those events - whilst the memories of the trauma will never go away, the extent to which they cause us distress can be significantly reduced.

I hope you were able to reach out and get help from our service - if not, please contact us and we will work with you to find the best option for treatment. If you did get help from us, then I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to share some of the things our service can do to help people who have survived traumatic experiences - perhaps in doing so, we have been able to encourage others to seek help.

I wish you all the very best,

Mark Frost