PTSD - EMS - Veterans

A new year has begun and I am wishing you all a Happy New Year. Today I want to provide you with some more notes from the conference I attended at Badge of Life several months back. One of the speakers was Dr Katy Kamkar a psychologist. She indicated that mental health disabilities are seven times more likely to occur than physical disabilities. Of course she talked about stigma regarding personal, self; workplace (DSM transferred PTSD - to emotion as one of them). Reducing stigma is by mental health education - evidence based and good orientation. Addressing stigma by focusing on the individual rather than the illness. www.cos-mag.com/psychological health- safety/columns/first responders - suffering from moral injury. / 20-warning signs of compassion/fatigue (similar to PTSD but not). Cortisine is low in burn out - Protective factor. Trust in Leadership - supportive climate. Self Compassion - relation with self. Dr J Douglas / Dr Margaret McKInnon Phd, Uof T, Psychologist, Homewood Research Institute. She experienced a plane crash - fire. As a result she suffered from PTSD was treated and became a psychologist. That experience led her to her interest of study. She indicated that only 56% of people with PTSD get treatment. 13%-30 % have a dissociative type. Hyper-arousal - re-experiencing & Hypo arousal - depersonalization, deregulation, emotional numbing and analgesia Re: Brain scan - What would it be like if people were to see inside you? Brain scanning brains when recalling events that led to trauma. Measures looking at patterns. Neuroscientifically - informed treatment. There was more which I am not free to report here. There was more hush hush from other speakers which I will respect. What I can report is what a Nurse from St John Ambulance from Churchhill, Australia reported. (They would be back home now and my thoughts are of the speakers as they face the horrific fires and devastations in Australia. It is heartbreaking. ) The nurse reported that in a 2015 study it was revealed that every four weeks an emergency worker in Australia ends their life. Now there are 420,000 volunteers in the Emergency Services section. They offer six hours of service a week. EMS on bicycles are normally first to arrive. One in three volunteers report being diagnosed with a mental health condition in their life time. Volunteers have higher psychological distress, compared to one to five. Now back at home we had another speaker talk about HELP. I am sure I mentioned them before from a brochure but I will elaborate from the conference. The speaker was Kyle Bellehumiuer (I hope I spelled his name right). You can look up the info at www.HELP - PTSD com. It is a non profit setting. There is a four day event for Canadian Forces veterans and EMS. There are six locations in Ontario and is expanding. There are small groups - three to twelve. There is a $150.00 registration fee and it costs $1700 per participant which is covered by community relations egala.org.ca . Help - the focus is on the now and future not the past story. There is a 67% decrease in PTSD after four days (self - report). There is another organization - Boots On The Ground, a first responder peer support - Carl Waggett. He retired two years ago and started this program. 20 Peel Police Officers, 24/7 peer support to all serving and retired members. In Toronto, Dr Vivien Leigh - will send out two volunteers to have coffee and meet. There are 130 volunteers. There is a theme of a loss. Another site you can check out for Ottawa Police is wellness@ottawapolice.ca . I hope this information is helpful for anyone who reads this. What I have found in my practice is that the longer people wait to get help the harder it is to heal. However, it is never too late. Though the focus here has been on emergency responders which is an obvious interest to me, PTSD can happen as a result of any trauma. People who are sexually attacked, in a car accident etc, can all suffer from PTSD. I really recommend that if you experience any trauma do not wait to get help. I know there is a stigma out there. When I venture into the real world I am always reminded about stigma by the questions I am asked. And education is so important which should begin in the education system. There are so many resources in the city which are lacking in remote areas. However our government has a responsibility to help all people. It is good to know that others are stepping up and setting their own organizations to help peers. Please take an opportunity if you are a responder or veteran to consider trying out what I have discussed here. The resources are free and there will not be any outsiders. Do not hesitate to let me know if you do decide to do so and let me know if I can share what you liked or did not like about where you went. I have found that people like to isolate themselves. The noise, the people, the buildings are all too much. I will end again by thinking of Australia and hope you all have a great start to the year. Perhaps it is a year to reach out………… www.redigondapsychotherapy.com