PTSD

I am not a mental health expert, but I'm always looking for information from those folks about things that affect parentified and traumatized children. I figure that information is a good thing, especially for those looking for answers and today I found an article on medscape.com that was very interesting. (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579412)

I am sure that I suffered for years from posttraumatic stress disorder (PSTD) because of the trauma of my childhood. And today's medscape.com article on the effectiveness and durability of mind-body programs in the treatment of children with PTSD was good news! They found that PTSD symptoms as well as nightmares and flashbacks were reduced when this new treatment was used on children who had been in the war in Kosovo. (See link for article)

Interestingly, this program can be delivered by "trained individuals who don't necessarily have to have a psychiatric or medical background," according to investigator James Gordon, MD. That's even better news. Lay people like teachers, community and religious leaders and others can be trained to do this work. This would be effective for large groups who have lived in war zones, or experienced other kinds of disasters.

The program used a mix of things like meditation, guided imagery, breathing, drawing, movement, biofeedback, etc. All in all, it's effective, durable, and helpful.  I'm excited!