Peter A. Levine Ph.D, author of Waking the Tiger, describes his personal experience of an auto accident and how he managed to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder.
In a strange way, I both know and don’t know what has just happened. As the fragments begin to converge, they convey a horrible reality: I must have been hit by this car as I entered the crosswalk. In confused disbelief, I sink back into a hazy twilight. I find that I am unable to think clearly or to will myself awake from this nightmare.
Did he manage to avoid PTSD alone? No, he explains the crucial role of the pediatrician who stayed with him and gave him psychological support in addition to how his understanding of trauma healing helped him avoid PTSD.
Read the rest of the extract from his book here:
In An Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness
It is fascinating to read a first person account from a trauma specialist which describes a way of preventing or minimizing future PTSD.
Later he does talk about the body’s role in healing trauma, but it seems that knowing how to prevent PTSD is a very valuable skill in life.
None of us can predict what may happen in future but we can build our own resiliency now, and learn how to help others should we be a witness to trauma.
Related articles
- PTSD is not a mark of shame (traumadissociation.wordpress.com)
- Viewing life through a filter of trauma (traumadissociation.wordpress.com)
- How is PTSD different from normal response to trauma? (ptsdfcs.wordpress.com)
Trauma and Dissociation 