Working with Joe these last few weeks has enabled me as a therapist to witness something very rare in this line of work; true epiphany from a person whose entire life has been a living nightmare of one drug or alcohol fueled experience to another. I'm not talking about someone who has dabbled in recreational drugs and gone a bit overboard becoming addicted after a few months continued use. I'm not even talking about the alcoholic who started drinking innocently enough in college and is now in their late twenties to mid thirties trying to cope with a newly realized alcoholic self. This gentleman started out at the tender age of 8 and by the time he was 10, he was already a fan of daily beer and a shot or two thrown in when he could muster one. Now, at 41, he is just coming round to the realizations that most of his life has been accomplished unwittingly in alcoholic stupors and/or drug fueled manias. His life has been blasted from him by his various addictions and seeing him-finally-coming completely out of this has reminded me somewhat of the traumas brought about by a sudden or violent assault upon the senses, such as is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Joe's assault was initially a single traumatic event foisted upon a child. With no time to properly respond to the initial attack, he was assaulted again and again, day after day, with traumatic and what must have been interpreted as violent, assaults upon his body and senses. After all, Joe was but a child when his addictions began and his mind was incapable of differentiating between should and shouldn't, good and bad, right and wrong. His mind was also attacked perceptually as his young brain was only beginning to properly sort out reality from fantasy and fiction. And now, watching him sort through all the debris and begin to restore his tortured mind, I see him riding the same emotional roller coaster I traveled on with my PTSD. It seemed that one day I would be fine, present, and taking care of business personally and professionally. But, the next day, for seemingly no reason at all, I would be grumpy and pessimistic, easily irritated, sharp with others and distrustful. There has always been a correlation between PTSD and drug/alcohol use, but for the first time I'm seeing the horse before the cart, so to speak. It's very possible that Joe's repeated early alcohol abuses produced in him a post traumatic stress response that perpetuated his alcohol and drug usage. He'd been thrust into a very horrid vicious cycle that has continued unabated until he began seeking treatment with me in 2002. It has taken this amount of time to properly "see" his PTSD so I can begin treating it. I've never even heard of this sort of thing before, but then again there are not a lot of 41 year olds around that have been octuple addicts for the past 30 years, give or take a few. It gives me hope to see Joe rehabilitating and going through his grieving process. It is not unlike what occurred in me the closer I got to learning to cope with PTSD.

PTSD may be more pervasive than we think. If Joe’s addictions are PTSD based as I think they are, then that may hold an answer in how to treat his particular addiction. Advances in treating PTSD are happening as we speak and a great deal of attention is finally being placed upon understanding and treating Post Traumatic Stress. We know irritability, drug and/or alcohol abuse, all sorts of excessive and addictive behaviors, violence against self or others, societal withdrawal, and so many other symptoms are related to PTSD traumatic stress, perhaps if we incorporate PTSD treatment modalities with new drug and alcohol rehab techniques we may find new successes are possible.

How does this affect those who currently suffer from PTSD and its related symptoms? How does this affect the millions of us that PTSD sufferers touch daily?

Firstly, you are not alone. Not even close to being alone. There are millions of us who are touched daily by those who suffer from PTSD, and the good news, the hope is, that we are beginning to look at PTSD in ways never thought about before and new therapies are being invented for those who suffer. New treatment modalities offer new hope for freedom from this crippling dis-ease.

To all those suffering from PTSD, and to all those who live with such a person, please remember your 4 P's, and practice focusing on your present intention as it will always keep you on your pathway toward your purpose and your dreams in life.


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PREHAB: The Essentials for Successful Change
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