Feb

10

The Physcial Dangers of Fight/Flight/Freeze

Filed Under Treating PTSD 

cid_002401c856b36e7f99906701a8c0rick1It has been a while since I last posted anything on our blog.  Truthfully, after our trip to Southeast Asia I needed some down time and I’ve been busy getting my university classes up and running.  During this time period, however, I continued to do more research and attended a conference on maintaining wellness.  A growing number of studies regarding the physical impacts of severe trauma on an individual’s physical body keeps building.  It is this information that continues to make it more essential that military personnel do all they can to implement immediate and effective interventions for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with even mild cases of PTSD.  What happens in the body when it has undergone frequent and extensive truama and it goes untreated is a multitude of physical problems.  These are just some things to be aware of: high blood pressure, high heart rates, high cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity, decreased immune system, problems with attention- ability to stay focused, and memory, digestive system out of whack, and a decrease in the levels of serotonin – a brain neurotransmitter that helps the body maintain a sense of calm.  Pretty scary isn’t it?  Left untreated the entire body – brain/mind and body – can make it incredibly difficult to live a long and healthy life.  Never has it been more true than the motto in our book: “If we send them, then we must mend them.”  As a nation we owe our combat vets at least that much for their service, their sacrifice, and their well-being.

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