Introduction -- PTSD, a normal reaction to an abnormal amount of stress -- The healing process -- Cautions -- How to use this book -- Questionnaires and exercises, keeping a journal -- A final note -- pt. I. Understanding PTSD -- How to use these chapters -- 1. What is PTSD? Do I have it? -- PTSD : a new name for an old problem -- The uniqueness of the PTSD diagnosis -- The DSM-IV criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder -- Criterion A : a traumatic event -- Trauma means wounding -- Depersonalization and trauma -- Questionnaire for criterion A -- Criterion B : reexperiencing the trauma -- Dreams, nightmares, and insomnia -- Flashbacks -- Other forms of reexperiencing the trauma -- Questionnaire for criterion B -- Criterion C : numbing and avoidance -- Emotional shutdown or psychic numbing -- Avoidance and triggers -- Questionnaire for criterion C -- Criterion D : hyperarousal symptoms -- Fight-or-flight and freeze reactions -- Questionnaire for criterion D -- Criterion E : duration -- Criterion F : degree of impairment -- Man-made vs. natural catastrophes -- Single-trauma vs. multiple-trauma survivors -- Questionnaire for criterion F -- Full-blown vs. partial PTSD -- Other reactions to trauma -- Dissociation -- Somatization -- Now that I know, what comes next? -- 2. The biochemistry of PTSD -- Biological changes and the healing process -- The role of the adrenals -- Adrenaline and trigger situations -- When stress is prolonged -- Depression -- What is depression? -- Causes of clinical depression -- Questionnaire : clinical depression -- Substance abuse -- PTSD-related causes of addictions and compulsions -- Assessing for substance abuse -- Questionnaire : alcohol and drug use -- Assessing for eating disorders -- Questionnaire : anorexia nervosa -- Questionnaire : bulimia nervosa -- Questionnaire : other eating disorders -- Questionnaire : compulsive overeating -- Assessing for compulsive behavior -- Questionnaire : compulsive gambling -- Questionnaire : other compulsive behaviors -- Getting help -- 3. Feelings, thoughts, and traumatic events -- Learning about feelings -- The link between feeling identification and feeling awareness -- What is a feeling? -- Turning in to your feelings -- Sad, mad, glad, or scared? A feelings list -- Exercise : separating feelings from thoughts -- Remembering the trauma -- Exercise : recording the traumatic event -- Self-blame and survivor guilt -- The origins of self-blame and survivor guilt -- Looking at the bigger picture -- Exercise : self-blame and survivor guilt -- Self-esteem and self-blame -- Origins of low self-esteem -- Exercise : self-blame and your self-esteem -- Exercise : the effects of self-blame on your present life -- Countering self-blame -- Exercise : identifying your strengths -- It's a beginning -- 4. The three levels of victimization -- Level one : the shattering of assumptions -- Loss of invulnerability -- Loss of an orderly world -- Loss of positive self-image -- Other common victim responses -- Accepting help -- Level two : secondary wounding -- Forms of secondary wounding -- Effects of secondary wounding -- Causes of secondary wounding -- Overcoming secondary wounding -- Naming the demon -- Common secondary wounding responses -- Exercise : identifying your secondary wounding experiences -- Exercise : secondary wounding and your attitudes today -- Exercise : secondary wounding and your activities -- Level three : victim thinking -- Exercise : victim thinking -- cutting off victim thinking -- Exercises : the sources of victim thinking -- 5. Why am I acting this way? Triggers -- What are triggers? -- Trigger symptoms and the adrenal glands -- Types of triggers -- Coping with other people -- Identifying your triggers -- Exercise : trigger chart 1 -- Coping with triggers and trigger situations -- Feeling safe -- Social situations -- Exercise : trigger chart 2 -- Selecting a trigger to work on -- Exercise : motivating yourself -- Planning ahead -- Relaxation techniques -- Deep breathing -- Progressive muscle relaxation -- Physical exercise -- Quick fixes -- Positive self-talk -- Before the trigger -- During the trigger -- Progressing through trigger chart 2 -- Acknowledging reality -- Taking stock -- pt. II. The healing process -- How to use these chapters -- A growth vs. deficit model of therapy -- Healing is an nonlinear process -- The stages of healing -- Healing takes time -- Restorative experiences -- Mediation -- The prerequisite of safety -- Cautions : when the healing process is not advisable -- The strength of survivors -- How will I know when I am healed? -- Hang in there! -- 6. Stage 1 : remembering the trauma -- Problems uncovering the trauma -- Helps for remembering -- A note of caution -- Memory aids -- Exercise : addiction histories -- Professional assistance -- Reconstructing the trauma mentally -- Exercise : visualizing the trauma -- Getting feedback from others -- Exercise : self-forgiveness -- Exercise : what if it were someone you loved? -- Making amends -- 7. Stage 2 : feeling the feelings -- The necessity of feeling -- Fear of feeling -- Take your time -- Managing your emotions -- Preparing yourself -- Exercise : identifying your fears about feelings -- Exercise : reexamining your fears about feelings -- PTSD, anger, grief, or helplessness? -- Anger and grief, the intimate connection -- 8. Stage 2 continued : living with anger -- The problem of anger -- Dealing with anger in doses -- Anger at the self : self-blame and survivor guilt revisited -- Exercise : reviewing self-blame -- Anger at others -- Exercise : identifying the sources of your anger -- Exercises : obstacles to acknowledging and feeling anger -- Taking stock -- Exercise : a more complete anger inventory -- Managing your anger -- A note of caution -- Anger is a feeling, not an action -- Taking time out -- Venting your anger -- Giving anger its due -- Immediate anger-management techniques -- Taking life stresses into account -- Rest and recreation -- Exercise : looking at your anger objectively -- 9. Stage 2 continued : understanding grief and sorrow -- The benefits of grieving -- The three levels of loss -- The importance of identifying your losses -- Exercise : identifying your losses -- The grieving process -- The five stages of grief -- What you can expect -- Strategies for coping with grief -- Creating a time and place to grieve -- Surmounting cultural barriers -- Expressing the grief -- Giving dignity to your grief -- Talking to yourself positively -- Developing a support system -- Accepting grief -- 10. Stage 3 : attaining empowerment -- Appreciating your progress -- Emotional and spiritual progress -- Exercise : taking stock of your progress -- The great trauma brain -- Self-care and safety -- Feeling safe in your environment -- Physical health and safety -- Emotional self-care -- Avoiding revictimization -- Reviewing the three levels of victimization -- Exercise : avoiding revictimization -- Harnessing your rage -- A note of caution -- Exercise : revenge fantasies -- Getting even, weighing the pros and cons -- Other ways of getting even -- Working toward compensation -- Exercise : compensations -- Pursuing legal rights and promises -- Self-compensation -- Refinding yourself -- Exercise : who was I then? -- Salvaging the past -- Rewriting the trauma -- Accepting the scars -- Support systems -- The meaning of "healing" -- The promises of healing -- pt. III. Specific traumas -- How to use these chapters -- 11. Crimes committed by strangers -- Guidelines for using this book -- The prevalence of crime -- The changing nature of crime, how it affects victims -- The psychological aftermath of crime, acute stress reactions -- PTSD and crime -- The sense of violation -- The shock stage -- Adrenaline reactions and tunnel vision -- Secondary wounding and the reactions of others -- Exercise : reexamining the crime, your initial reactions, and secondary wounding experiences -- The recoil, or impact, stage -- Fear and phobias -- Critical voices -- The issue of fighting back -- Exercise : identifying fears -- Countering fear with positive action -- Anger -- Exercise : anger and the costs of the crime -- The attribution stage -- The masochism myth as applied to crime survivors -- Exercise : self-blame -- The resolution stage -- Difficulties reaching the resolution stage -- When acute stress reaction becomes PTSD -- 12. Rape and sexual assault -- Guidelines for using this book -- The prevalence of rape -- The myth of rape -- Myth 1 : only bad girls get raped -- Myth 2 : all women enjoy a little rape now and then -- Myth 3 : men rape for sexual release -- Myth 4 : rape is a sign of virility -- Myth 5 : date rape isn't really rape -- Myth 6 : only attractive women get raped -- Myth 7 : if you didn't resist, you must have wanted it -- Myth 8 : men don't get raped -- Exercise : recalling the rape in detail -- Exercise : reexamining self-blame -- Exercise : reexamining secondary wounding experiences -- Dealing with the emotional aftereffects of rape -- Getting help as soon as possible -- Pseudorecovery and delayed reactions -- Viewing the rape as a challenge -- The decision to prosecute -- When the rapist threatens to retaliate -- Making your own decision -- 13. Domestic violence and sexual abuse -- Guidelines for using this book -- What is abuse? Definitions -- Battering -- Child abuse -- Child sexual abuse -- The structure of abuse -- Denial -- Exercise : overcoming denial -- Guilt and shame -- Exercise : pinpointing the rage -- Traps -- The battering cycle -- Exercise : identifying and defusing the battering cycle -- Generation to generation : inheriting violence -- Parentified children -- Ways out -- Abused adults -- Abused children -- 14. Suicide of a loved one -- Guidelines for using this book -- The emotional aftermaths of suicide : PTSD and depression -- Suicide and PTSD -- Clinical depression and suicide -- Rising suicide rates -- Homicide, suicide, or accident? -- Causes of suicide -- Precipitating events -- Suicide and self-blame -- Exercise : clarifying survivor guilt -- False guilts -- Exercise : identifying your guilt -- Coping with the effects of your life -- Exercise : assessing the impact of the suicide -- Acknowledging your anger -- Exercise : therapeutic letter writing -- Additional coping suggestions -- 15. Natural catastrophes -- Guidelines for using this book -- PTSD and natural catastrophe survivors -- Natural catastrophes vs. other types of trauma -- Common reactions to natural catastrophes -- How long do symptoms last? -- The waxing and waning of symptoms -- The resurrection on unresolved emotional issues -- The effects of secondary traumas -- Exercise : identifying loses -- Pursuing compensation -- 16. Vehicular accidents -- Guidelines for using this book -- Vehicular accidents as a "necessary evil" -- The psychological aftermath of vehicular accidents, acute stress reaction -- The shock stage -- Exercise : reexamining the accident and its immediate aftermath -- The recoil or impact stage -- Coping with fears -- Exercise : identifying and countering fears -- Dealing with anger -- Exercise : anger and the costs of the accident -- The attribution stage -- Exercise : reviewing self-blame -- The resolution stage -- When acute stress reaction becomes PTSD -- 17. War and combat -- Guidelines for using this book -- War and mental health -- PTSD and war historically -- Circumstances of war -- Self-blame -- Survivor guilt and self-blame -- Exercise : reducing self-blame and guilt feelings -- Anger and grief -- Exercise : distinguishing grief and anger -- Exercise : reviewing triggers -- Premature death and suicide -- Exercise : examining suicidal thoughts and feelings -- Coping with suicidal thoughts -- Beyond this book -- pt. IV. Appendixes -- A. Getting help, survivor groups and therapy programs -- Finding a therapist or treatment program -- Where to begin -- The screening process -- Evaluating the course of therapy -- If you are referred to a psychiatrist -- Finding a survivor group -- Further reading -- B. Resources -- Alcohol and drug abuse -- Battering -- Child abuse -- Crime -- Depression -- Eating disorders and compulsive behavior -- Legal assistance -- Natural catastrophes -- Rape and sexual assault -- Relaxation and symptom-management -- Suicide -- Vehicular accidents -- War and combat.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.