Reddit reviews Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal

The VA does offer help for PTSD. however the stigma as well as pressure from command (while in) can prevent you from seekng help. There's a lot of old therapy out there such as exposure therapy that makes it worse too.

there's real research that shows how useful MDMA is combined with therapy but politically we favor the war on drugs rather then an 83% success rate curing "incurable PTSD"

Long term follow up 17 to 74 months after the original study’s final MDMA session with a group suffering chronic incurable PTSD: "On average, subjects maintained statistically and clinically-significant gains in symptom relief, although two of these subjects did relapse. It was promising that we found the majority of these subjects with previously severe PTSD who were unresponsive to existing treatments had symptomatic relief provided by MDMA-assisted psychotherapy that persisted over , with no subjects reporting harm from participation in the study" http://jop.sagepub.com/content/27/1/28.full.pdf+html

MAPS study: "Decrease in Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale scores from baseline was significantly greater for the group that received MDMA than for the placebo group at all three time points after baseline. The rate of clinical response was 10/12 (83%) in the active treatment group versus 2/8 (25%) in the placebo group. There were no drug-related serious adverse events, adverse neurocognitive effects or clinically significant blood pressure increases. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can be administered to posttraumatic stress disorder patients without evidence of harm, and it may be useful in patients refractory to other treatments." http://jop.sagepub.com/content/25/4/439.abstract)

83% of the subjects receiving MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in a pilot study no longer met the criteria for PTSD. http://www.mdmaptsd.org/research-category.html

there are older studies too from the 70s http://maps.org/publications/Oehen_2012_MDMA_PTSD_Swisstudy.pdf but they were often pressured politically to stop: http://www.maps.org/mdma/spain_MDMA_JOPD.pdf

the science doesn't lie but politics and bill oreilly bullshit talking points do. Ignoring all the research and science slow the scientific progress all around the world. Here's another study trying to get off the ground being delayed by politics alone: https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12612000219

a lot of these drugs could help a lot of people. I've personally seen MDMA help friends of mine former marines as well as abuse victims. Im a USAF vet that had anxiety from physical child abuse and car wrecks I moved forward with MDMA, mushrooms, and opening up about it. If only we focused on harm reduction and therapy instead of criminalization of nonviolent crime.

My vet friends that went camping and smoked some cannabis occasionally and did mushrooms are all mentally well and exceeding in their fields of study or work now. Of course people can have addictions and ruin their lives. That's a risk. I know a guy that ruined his military carrier with coke and another that heroin nearly killed him because he thought that was a good time. I'm not advocating that. Obviously meth, coke, h are not therapeutic and have serious side effects and are addictive. But MDMA and psychedelics are proven not to be addictive and to have real therapeutic use. Don't trust me, look at the research, ask peers, talk to my partner about her once only use of MDMA and she was able to feel again and talked to a psychologist (who was previously arranged to be willing to) while she experienced the MDMA open up her ability to feel and her empathy and love and that helped her with PTSD and depersonalization.

These are not addictive chemically and with proper use are helpful for people to open up and have a second look while being able to feel and emotionally connect again. Its a much better choice then trying to maintain some sense of holding it together and constantly being on the defensive trying not to break down. Give yourself a chance to get it out, let go, surrender, experience ego death, laugh at the irony of trying to control it all including how you feel and then pick up the pieces and move forward empowering yourself to take charge of what you can do with your life and what you actually enjoy


I've had a lot of friends that have had various levels of trauma and PTSD from various sources such as child abuse, abduction, incarnation, rape, war, to just being an EMT. There are lots of coping mechanisms but the one thing I've seen help the most people was this book: PTSD invisible hero's.

http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Heroes-Survivors-Trauma-They/dp/0553383744

As a vet I'd buy you a copy. Personally its helped and I've given out close to 20 copies now.

I've also used cannabis with high CNB strains like silver sativa or cat piss previously. Although I haven't smoked in a few years. It does have a benefit of making you dream less if you have night terrors. My partner has less terrors when she smokes even if its just two or three times a week but I have to be completely clean for work so I meditate and use some of the techniques taught in the book.

This idea

> I have always been told that I cannot recover from PTSD unless I go back to the same sorts of people and places who gave it to me in the first place, and this terrifies me.

is outdated, and not supported by any clinical evidence that I'm aware of. I don't blame you for begin terrified. I suffer from complex PTSD as a result of ongoing childhood trauma myself, although my experiences sound less horrific than yours. I also work on a crisis hotline so I deal with a lot of trauma survivors.

I am so sorry that you have had such repeated bad experiences. Your experience of having an involuntary hold put on you when you stated that you were not at immediate risk flies in the face of all current guidelines, which make a clear distinction between suicidal ideation (thoughts) and suicidal intent. Sadly, there are a lot of people out there hanging on to the outdated (and dangerous) idea that anyone with suicidal thoughts or evidence of trauma needs to be locked up immediately, and it sounds like that evaluator was one of them. Either that or she was just plain crazy herself!

As for getting help, you certainly deserve to find some real help. Our friend at metanoia.org (author of our "read this first" link), has put together an awesome guide on how to tell good therapists from bad ones, including bad ones with good intentions. You might find it helpful.

http://metanoia.org/choose/

SwirlingShadows suggestion to educate yourself is also a good one. Some books that I have found helpful are:

Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine

Invisible Heroes by Belleruth Naparstek

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz

Hugs to you.

Belleruth Naparstek - Invisible Heroes

Bessel Van Der Kolk - The Body Keeps The Score

The ones that have helped me the most:

Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal by Belleruth Naparstek

http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Heroes-Survivors-Trauma-They/dp/0553383744

The Trauma Tool Kit: Healing PTSD from the Inside Out by Susan Pease Banitt

http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Tool-Kit-Healing-Inside/dp/0835608964/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408389271&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=susan+pease+bannit

Before the World Intruded: Conquering the Past and Creating the Future, A Memoir by Michele Rosenthal

http://www.amazon.com/Before-World-Intruded-Conquering-Creating/dp/0615624383/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408389393&sr=1-1&keywords=michele+rosenthal

I'm looking forward to reading some Bessel van der Kolk and Peter Levine soon too.