This week's Fearless Nation peer support meetings

THIS WEEK'S SUPPORT MEETINGS IN OUR 3D CHAT ROOM

Education - Support - Recovery - Anonymous - FREE

Live - Online - In Real Time with Real People! 
Sign up FREE with our 3D Web Provider) to join in!

 https://spoton3d.com/register/

http://3Durl.com/map/spoton3d/Fearless%20Nation%201/169/76/38

You can also enter the direct portal above or Facebook to join our meetings!

All times in Pacific Standard Time

WEDNESDAY, May 2nd 2012

↖★↗   TIMELY TOPICS PTSD SUPPORT GROUP

WEDNESDAY at 11 AM PST, -8 GMT

~* THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: *~

“100% Proof: Get Your Rightful Benefits”

As a healthcare consumer, employee, veteran, find out how to get 100% proof that you have PTSD and take this proof in hand to benefits administrations, insurance companies – Or your lawyer. *Voice and text.

↖★↗   EMPOWER SUPPORT GROUP

WEDNESDAY at 12 PM  and 5 PM PST, -8 GMT

~* THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: *~

“Compassion Fatigue in Spouses, Children, Family and Therapists”

Find out why our friends and families turn away from us and don't want us to discuss openly our traumatic experiences. Also: why some therapists don't want to believe what happened to us. Our loved ones and therapists are only human--how can we maintain positive relationships with them without giving them secondary trauma and vicarious trauma? *Voice and text.

THURSDAY, May 3rd 2012

↖★↗   EMPOWER SUPPORT GROUP

THURSDAY at 11 AM PST, -8 GMT

~* THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: *~

“Compassion Fatigue in Spouses, Children, Family and Therapists”

Find out why our friends and families turn away from us and don't want us to discuss openly our traumatic experiences. Also: why some therapists don't want to believe what happened to us. Our loved ones and therapists are only human--how can we maintain positive relationships with them without giving them secondary trauma and vicarious trauma? *Voice and text.

↖★↗  THE INSIGHT GROUP WEEKLY MEETING

THURSDAY at 5 PM PST, -8 GMT

~* Changing Unhealthy Behaviors *~

THE INSIGHT GROUP is all about changing unhealthy behaviors, addictions and habits that keep us from moving forward in life. Explore why we do unhealthy things, and how we can take back the control over our lives. Not a 12-Step Program: No public confessions, no coins, just straight-up talk, group support, education and proven methods. *Voice and text.

ANONYMOUS, FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC - Pass It On! Bring Friends and Family!

* Voice: NO USING SPEAKER PHONES. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL BACKGROUND NOISE OFF (RADIOS, TVs, FANS, AND OTHER NOISES). MAKE SURE YOUR HEADSET AND MICROPHONE ARE IN GOOD WORKING ORDER.

ABOUT Our 3D Interactive Chat Room

Our Web Worlds are worlds within your computer; just like you would be walking over the street in the real world, you can walk around and navigate through these 3D web sites using a representation of yourself, called an “avatar”. You can communicate with other people’s avatars, and interact with other users and the environment.

This all happens in real-time. When you see other avatars, the people operating them are at their home or office computers, like you. When people talk to you they are real human beings sitting behind their computer, using the 3D web site just as you are. It just like a chat room--but more interactive.

How to talk to someone with PTSD

From the Huffington Post:

PTSD Virtual Retreat Members Speak: Fearless Nation in Second Life

This amazing video shows how the Fearless Nation PTSD Support virtual retreat has helped several people with PTSD. Check it out:



We have lots of new stories coming up on PTSD News in the coming week or two. Stay tuned.

Veterans' agencies launch free PTSD Coach iPhone app

Got PTSD? There's an app for that.

Okay, now that I got that awful joke out of my head, here's the news: The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense have teamed up to launch a free iPhone app called PTSD Coach. Intended specifically for people who are in or have served in the military, the app "provides users with education about PTSD, information about professional care, a self-assessment for PTSD, opportunities to find support, and tools that can help users manage the stresses of daily life with PTSD."

You can find more info on the app here.

2nd Annual 24-hour PTSD Awareness Event This Weekend

The second annual worldwide "Be Fearless!" event to raise awareness, educate the public and banish stigma about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be held online on November 6, 2010.

The 24-hour event, hosted by Fearless Nation PTSD Support, Inc., a nonprofit organization hailing from the USA, will focus on fact-based PTSD information and two simultaneous live stage events with internationally popular musicians and DJs. People from around the globe can attend the event via Second Life, the virtual online community. The entire "Be Fearless!" event will be broadcast live online through the Fearless Nation website.

The "Be Fearless" event begins at 00:00 Pacific Coast Time (-7 GMT/UTC) on November 6 and will run for 24 hours.

Visit the links above for more information!

How children react to parents with PTSD

One family member's PTSD can have terrible effects on the rest of the family, especially when it's a parent suffering.

According to an article from the National Center for PTSD, the symptoms of PTSD "can be frightening not only for the individual experiencing them but also for the children who witness them."

Children often react to PTSD in three common ways: by behaving like their PTSDer parent (the "over-identified child"); by trying to fill the adult's normal role in the family (the "rescuer child"); or by becoming emotionally uninvolved.

All of these responses can pose problems for a child later in life. And in fact, the children can, themselves, develop their own cases of PTSD, a condition known as "intergenerational transmission of trauma."

But that doesn't mean the situation is hopeless for families. According to the article, simply explaining to a child why a parent has been traumatized (without going in graphic detail) can go a long way toward alleviating the stress a child feels.

Treatment/therapy as a family is also often a valuable asset and tool.

If anyone in your family is suffering from PTSD, this article by Jennifer L. Price, PhD, is essential reading:

When a Child's Parent Has PTSD - National Center for PTSD

The primary, secondary and tertiary effects of PTSD

Bob Trowbridge's article "Secondary and tertiary effects of post-traumatic stress related to war" for Helium (a health & fitness site) does much to illustrate the pains and symptoms of PTSD.

Trowbridge (a spiritual counselor, not a therapist) breaks it down like this:

Primary effects:
Nightmares
Flashbacks
Hypersensitivity
High blood pressure and other physical symptoms
Paranoia
Withdrawal from society

Secondary effects:
The effect on friends and family
The potential for violence

Tertiary effects:
Difficulty rejoining society
Unemployment
Homelessness
Alcohol and drug abuse
Inability to perform in social situations

Trowbridge points out that this three-tiered breakdown of effects is completely artificial. In other words, it's not a diagnostic tool, just a way for us to look at symptom/effects in meaningful clumps that tell a story of the problems PTSDers encounter.

And hopefully, once we understand, proper treatment can begin.

Worth a read.

PTSD Awareness Event Coming to Second Life December 19

24-hour International Event to Showcase Benefits of Virtual Environments for PTSD Survivors

Fearless Nation, the online community for people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), will host a massive online event in Second Life (SL), the online virtual environment, to bring awareness to the needs of PTSD survivors and their families. The "Be Fearless" event will run for 24 hours beginning at midnight PST (UTC -8) on December 19, 2009 and run through midnight PST on December 20.

The event will include an open house of the Fearless Nation Second Life community, information and resources about PTSD, and an art show entitled "From the Abyss," allowing visitors to see the world through the eyes of a PTSD survivor. It will also include 24 hours of music and dancing spearheaded by DJ Britsurfer Bauer. Gifts, prizes and SL land giveaways donated by SL residents will also be offered to attendees.

"The 'Be Fearless' event is an opportunity to raise awareness about PTSD and to dispel the stigmas associated with this disorder," says Colleen Crary, founder of Fearless Nation. "We live in a world where it is estimated that 14 percent of the population may have some form of PTSD, yet it remains a highly misunderstood condition."

PTSD can result when one has experienced actual or threatened death or serious injury; threat to one's physical integrity; witnessing an event that involves death, injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of another person; learning about unexpected or violent death, serious harm, or threat of death or injury experienced by a family member or other close associate. Characteristic symptoms include persistent re-experiencing of the traumatic event; persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma; numbing of general responsiveness; and persistent symptoms of increased anxiety.

Fearless Nation is an international multicultural community of PTSD and trauma survivors, offering support, education and understanding of PTSD. The group welcomes PTSD sufferers, their families, friends, and clinicians, war veterans, law enforcement personnel, emergency response workers, torture and crime victims, man-made and natural disaster survivors, and survivors of all traumas.

Fearless Nation uses immersion in the Second Life Virtual Reality Environment (VRE) to give traumatized individuals experiences in social interaction and avatar activities that promote trust, skill mastery, and health through:

• Creation of a flexible "physical" presence (the avatar)
• Control over environment (can build, create own space, choose interactions)
• Education about PTSD (knowledge is power)
• Trying activities that diminish fear and anxiety such as:
• Talking openly in a safe space about traumatic experiences
• Progressive muscle relaxation (avatar yoga, movement, dance)
• Performance (music, singing, speaking, poetry, storytelling, dance, showing art, speech-making, etc.)
• Creative expression (music, art, poetry, clothing, etc.)
• Social interaction with others (rebuilding social skills)
• Supporting other PTSDers (getting outside one's own trauma)
  
• Receiving support from other PTSDers (accepting help and rebuilding social skills)
  
• Advocating for PTSD awareness and treatment (giving back)
  
• Trying new ways to approach problems (re-conceive the perception of traumatic experiences)

"I see the virtual environment of Second Life to be of great value to PTSD sufferers and their families," says Crary. "Research has shown that virtual reality environments can help people with PTSD to re-train their brains toward healing and recovery through shared experiences. SL provides the perfect environment for this approach, and despite the heavy hardware required, is low-cost and accessible to those seeking help. It provides privacy and anonymity for those seeking community."

If you are not already a "resident" of SL, you can get a free account and avatar at www.secondlife.com. Once you have an account, you may attend or participate in the "Be Fearless" event by visiting the SL events page for December 19 or going the Second Life url, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Paradise%20Aloha/76/121/25. You can also find the Fearless Nation community by searching in SL for "PTSD" or by visiting the Fearless Nation website at www.fearless-nation.org.

Study: Mental Health History Increases PTSD Risk

"Low self esteem, negative life events and lack of a support network greatly increase the likelihood of PTSD," according to a new study by the Geisinger Center for Health Research.

The study followed "2,000 adult victims of the World Trade Center disaster" for two years after the event.

Some possible therapeutic methods for treating PTSD could come out of this study: "Consistent with earlier findings, the study suggests that brief psychological interventions immediately following the event can prevent long term mental health issues. Also effective is informal support from families, friends and spiritual communities. Interestingly, extensive psychological therapy appears to delay recovery."