My late beloved had substantial PTSD from extremely evil physical violence and abuse done to her throughout her childhood by her parents, and then furthermore in corrupt school, church, and medical institutions. She was entirely innocent of any wrongdoing that could have led to or justified this in any way at all in this lifetime. I had milder PTSD from childhood experiences that were bad, but generally not as extreme as what she went through.
We worked with wise, expert counselors on the issue. We also both did a lot of our own reading on the subject for several years.
Everything we ever found about PTSD describes it as the nervous system's inability to cope with an extreme shock. It happens when the shock is beyond the nervous system's physical capacity to immediately adjust to destructive changes one is forced to experience.
Essentially, consciousness checks out for a moment, when the nervous system can't physically sustain awareness. Then the person has a mental and emotional gap. Consciously and subconsciously, they don't fully realize that the danger has passed and they have already survived. Because of this gap, the person continues to fight against or flee the apparently eternal threat, whenever it seems to come back around.
The overall sensitivity of the nervous system, and whether a person is already run down, have a lot to do with why the same experience can lead to PTSD in one person but not another standing beside them.
The two mainstream treatments are to discuss what happened in a safe setting, with a trained counselor, and to use pharmaceuticals to take the edge off the extreme emotions and intrusive reliving of the trauma's agony.
The leading alternative treatment is various bodywork methods to release or neutralize physically stored emotional imbalances. Acupuncture, Reich's methods, and Rolfing are among the ways said to release or rebalance physically stuck emotional energy. Also see today's discussion of tapping. EMDR is among the ways said to scramble the pathways of the physically stuck emotional energy, so it doesn't keep coming back.
I have never seen any other source on PTSD that relates in any way to what you described as Jordan Peterson's view. His doctorate is in clinical psychology, but his work specialty seems to be in areas other than PTSD.
I've not studied his views, but I have seen that his supporters and detractors would agree he's a controversy magnet for holding many unorthodox opinions on a wide range of topics in psychology, sociology, religion, and ethics.
Last month Dr. Peterson lost an appeal for a disciplinary process by his local psychology board, for making public statements about psychology outside what is supported by his professional expertise. He's at risk of losing his license if his mandatory training about professional communication isn't completed successfully. He has said the demand he have this coaching isn't needed or appropriate. I don't know if PTSD is a specific topic at issue.
Asking "is something about the evil I denounce outside me, also present inside me in some way?" can be a meaningful spiritual growth tool, but I've never seen anyone else suggest it as an approach to PTSD.
Re: PTSD
We worked with wise, expert counselors on the issue. We also both did a lot of our own reading on the subject for several years.
Everything we ever found about PTSD describes it as the nervous system's inability to cope with an extreme shock. It happens when the shock is beyond the nervous system's physical capacity to immediately adjust to destructive changes one is forced to experience.
Essentially, consciousness checks out for a moment, when the nervous system can't physically sustain awareness. Then the person has a mental and emotional gap. Consciously and subconsciously, they don't fully realize that the danger has passed and they have already survived. Because of this gap, the person continues to fight against or flee the apparently eternal threat, whenever it seems to come back around.
The overall sensitivity of the nervous system, and whether a person is already run down, have a lot to do with why the same experience can lead to PTSD in one person but not another standing beside them.
The two mainstream treatments are to discuss what happened in a safe setting, with a trained counselor, and to use pharmaceuticals to take the edge off the extreme emotions and intrusive reliving of the trauma's agony.
The leading alternative treatment is various bodywork methods to release or neutralize physically stored emotional imbalances. Acupuncture, Reich's methods, and Rolfing are among the ways said to release or rebalance physically stuck emotional energy. Also see today's discussion of tapping. EMDR is among the ways said to scramble the pathways of the physically stuck emotional energy, so it doesn't keep coming back.
I have never seen any other source on PTSD that relates in any way to what you described as Jordan Peterson's view. His doctorate is in clinical psychology, but his work specialty seems to be in areas other than PTSD.
I've not studied his views, but I have seen that his supporters and detractors would agree he's a controversy magnet for holding many unorthodox opinions on a wide range of topics in psychology, sociology, religion, and ethics.
Last month Dr. Peterson lost an appeal for a disciplinary process by his local psychology board, for making public statements about psychology outside what is supported by his professional expertise. He's at risk of losing his license if his mandatory training about professional communication isn't completed successfully. He has said the demand he have this coaching isn't needed or appropriate. I don't know if PTSD is a specific topic at issue.
Asking "is something about the evil I denounce outside me, also present inside me in some way?" can be a meaningful spiritual growth tool, but I've never seen anyone else suggest it as an approach to PTSD.
Christopher from California