Midwest Trauma Recovery Center
Krystal Schuette, LPC
Lisa McCulloch, LPC
Grace Downes, PLPC
Midwest Trauma Recovery Center
Healing is possible
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314-384-9748
Specializing in healing from past trauma
Anxiety
Are you anxious? Do you always feel 'on edge'? Are you easily startled, jumping at every little thing?
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Anxiety is worry or fear of the present or future. It can interfere with your able to live life to it fullest. Anxiety can include physical effects to the body like rapid breathing or shortness of breath, rapid heart beat, fainting, nausea, high blood pressure and other stress related symptoms.
Depression
Do you feel hopeless, like there is nothing to look forward to? Are you struggling to stay motivated?
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Depression symptoms can include loss of hope, loss of excitement and\or dark, dreary, negative thoughts of the future.
Depression can cause a change in your eating or sleeping habits. Depression can feel like lost motivation and\or not enjoying things you once enjoyed. It can feel like a dark cloud over everything you do.
Flashbacks
Have you ever felt like you were reliving the past?
This is called a flashback. Some people see it replay in their mind, like a bad movie they can't turn off. Some peoples people have flashback so vivid it's like they are back in the past. Flashbacks can engage some, all or none of your 5 senses. It can engage your sense of sight, touch, hearing, smell and\or taste. Flashbacks can also include intense feelings. This can include feelings of panic, distress, anger, sadness, shame or other distressing feeling. Some people also have a feel like they need to run, feel like they are frozen in place or feel like they need to fight even though there is no actual physical threat happening at the moment. Flashbacks occur when you are awake and alert. Their nighttime equivalent is nightmares.
Sleep Disturbances
Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night? Do you sleep to much? Do you have nightmares or night terrors?
Sleep is when our body and mind rejuvenate. Past trauma interferes with the mind's and body's natural cleansing system. The mind can't seem to 'cleanse' the past trauma from the mind and it just keeps getting stuck and replaying in the mind. This can cause you to feel unrested, irritable, tired. This can cause you to become vulnerable to illnesses or other physical ailments.
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Nightmares and Night Terrors can torment people with past trauma and those with PTSD. When a person is able to move through their trauma, the nightmares subside and for most people they go away completely.
Avoidance
Do you avoid things which remind you of the past. Have you stopped going to certain places, doing certain things or seeing certain people because they remind you of what happened?
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Avoidance can be a symptom of unresolved trauma. Avoiding behaviors can be sleeping too much, over working, staying busy so as not to think. Avoidance can look like avoiding a certain person because they remind you of what happened. It can be avoiding a certain part of town because that is where it happened. Avoidance can also be drinking alcohol or using drugs. Continue reading for more on the effects of alcohol and drugs related to past trauma.
Numbing
Have you started drinking to 'take the edge off'. Have you been prescribed fast acting anxiety medications? Have you become a 'workaholic'?
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Numbing behaviors can be drinking alcohol, taking prescription drugs, taking nonprescription drugs, eating to feel better, sex, engaging in high risk behaviors 'for the rush'. Anything that takes away your feelings. In this way it is similar to avoidance.
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Numbing and avoidance behaviors are supposed to make you feel better. Ironically, they make you feel worse which leads to more numbing and avoiding behaviors. Often the behaviors themselves can become life interfering on their own such as when a person becomes addicted to what they are using as a numbing agent.