<div>Post-traumatic stress disorder &#151; aka PTSD or simply "trauma" &#151; is a growing problem, with adults and children today affected by threats of terror; combat in the Middle East; and social, economic, and personal crises. It is a hidden disease affecting ten percent of the population &#151; many whether they know it or not. This book explains how PTSD arises, how to recognize its effects, and how to stabilize and recover from it, focusing on three areas: how to cope, how to help children and other loved ones, and how to recover happiness. Based on 18 years of field experience and practice, the author provides specific suggestions for handling trauma reactions like anger, anxiety, and withdrawal; discusses how to work through long-term effects; and includes numerous case examples and guidelines for self-help. Accessible and timely, his book speaks to healthcare professionals, military families, and anyone seeking coping strategies in the current world climate.</div>

After the Storm

Healing after Trauma, Tragedy and TerrorBy Kendall Johnson

Hunter House Inc., Publishers

Copyright © 2006 Kendall Johnson, Ph.D.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-89793-474-9

Contents

Acknowledgments...........................................................................................42A Note from the Author....................................................................................43Introduction..............................................................................................44Times of Uncertainty......................................................................................45Living in the New Age of Anxiety..........................................................................45Personal Crisis Against the Backdrop of Fear..............................................................47How to Use This Book......................................................................................48Part I: Global Uncertainty and the New Age of AnxietyChapter 1: Living in Troubled Times.......................................................................52Sources of Uncertainty....................................................................................52Living in Fear: The Effects upon Our Health...............................................................53Is It Stress or Trauma?...................................................................................54Contemporary Angst and Personal Crisis....................................................................57Chapter 2: Your Personal Response to Tragedy, Terror, and Uncertainty.....................................58Nothing Occurs in a Vacuum................................................................................59Your Personal Sense of Well-Being.........................................................................59Getting Down to Specifics.................................................................................60Attitudes and Beliefs.....................................................................................68Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................68Chapter 3: How Our Body and Brain React when We're Threatened.............................................69Some Helpful Terms........................................................................................70How We Respond to Crisis..................................................................................70Stress Triggers a Chemical Cascade Inside Us..............................................................71When Things Fall Apart: Acute Stress......................................................................73Chronic Fear and Anxiety Can Create Episodes of Acute Stress..............................................76Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................77Chapter 4: Seeing the World Differently after Crisis and Trauma...........................................78Building a Worldview......................................................................................78The Outer "World" as an Internal Construction.............................................................79Crisis, Memory, and Survival..............................................................................80Flashbulbs in the Dark....................................................................................83Cerebral "Indigestion" and Hidden Memories................................................................84What It All Means.........................................................................................85Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................86Chapter 5: Is It Trauma? Delayed Stress Reactions.........................................................87The Past Catches Up.......................................................................................88Delayed Reactions to the Storms of Living.................................................................91Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: What It Is and Is Not......................................................92Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................98Chapter 6: Serious Complications: Understanding Complex Trauma............................................99Layers of Trauma from Events Past and Present.............................................................99Peeling the Onion: Childhood Trauma, Sexual Abuse, and Combat.............................................102Memory Revisited..........................................................................................102Troubled Times and Low-Level Traumatic Stress.............................................................106Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................107Chapter 7: Running Scared in the Brave New World: The Wounding of Spirit and Attitude.....................108Chronic Trauma, Collective Angst..........................................................................108Toxic Conditions, Toxic Beliefs...........................................................................110Running Scared............................................................................................110Joys of the Heart and Spirit..............................................................................111Assessing Spiritual Balance...............................................................................114Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................116Part II: Tools for Hope and HealingChapter 8: Keeping It Together when You're Falling Apart..................................................118Losing It.................................................................................................122The Range of Our Response to Crisis.......................................................................124What to Do: Tools for Managing ASR........................................................................129Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................135Chapter 9: Letting Go of Fear, Anger, and Loss............................................................136A Quick Review of the What and Why of Arousal.............................................................136Going to Extremes.........................................................................................137The Basics of Managing ASR................................................................................138What Can We Do?...........................................................................................138Countermeasures for Episodes of Emotional Overreaction....................................................139Special Case: When Resentment Keeps Exploding into Rage...................................................141Special Case: When Fear Boxes Us In.......................................................................145Special Case: When Sadness Becomes Acute..................................................................148Opening to Peace..........................................................................................151Things to Think and Write About...........................................................................152Chapter 10: Dealing with Withdrawal, Numbing, and Depression..............................................153Calling in Air Strikes on Our Own...