Ask Dr. Shiroko

Every day there is something tragic in the news. Lately it seems that these events are increasing. Most recently, there was a shooting in Santa Monica where a random gunman killed six people. Last week, it was a building collapsing in Philadelphia. The week before, the Oklahoma tornado occurred. The list goes on.
Even if these particular events don’t directly affect your life, you’ve had events that do. An estimated 70 percent of Americans have experienced a traumatic event at least one time in their lives. When a person has events in his/her life, that deeply affect them on an emotional/spiritual level, it can create an energy imbalance that may or may not develop into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Imagine what it feels like to be in a car accident. Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, another car collides with yours. We are all familiar with the trauma it can cause to our bodies when this happens. This is what also happens to our emotions when something terrible happens in our lives. We experience a sudden intense impact from an emotional trauma in much the same way as we do a physical impact in a car accident. The problem is that we are so conditioned to ignore our emotions most of the time that we aren’t aware of the impact.
Biologically speaking, many things occur to the brain that affect our behavior and functioning as a result of trauma. If you have any of the following symptoms, you may be suffering from PTSD:
1) You can’t regulate your emotions.
2) You have short-term memory loss.
3) You always feel frightened.
4) You want to stay isolated.
5) You have trouble sleeping.
6) There is a sudden increase in physical symptoms.
Joey was 16-years-old when he was assaulted a few years ago by some school bullies. He wasn’t physically hurt because the police came by to save him in time. Shortly after the event, he began to be very irritable with his parents. He couldn’t control his temper. At first, everyone thought he was just being a teenager. But when he became violent unexpectedly, they realized something was wrong. When he was brought to my office, I treated him for PTSD using acupuncture. Within a few weeks, he began to feel more like his old self.
Any time we experience a traumatic event, it creates a blockage in our energy. Your body will either heal itself or continue to have an energy blockage as a result of that event. Energy blockages can manifest in any number of ways. You can develop certain behavior patterns as a result of the trauma, or you can develop physical illness. Studies show that children who were abused have a higher frequency of certain physical illnesses. Allergies, asthma, digestive problems, sleep problems, depression, and anxiety are all issues that come from PTSD. Stress is also believed to contribute to behavioral and physical health problems.
The most amazing thing about Chinese medicine is that it is all about healing energy blockages. Acupuncture is a specific method for releasing stuck energy. I designed a series of seven acupuncture treatments for PTSD a few years ago. It has been helping people change their lives ever since. Chinese herbs are also used for helping to heal energy blockages.
PTSD requires specific individualized treatment to help a person heal. If you have experienced trauma in the past or recently, here are 5 things that can be done to move towards healing:
1. Recognize and acknowledge that a trauma occurred.
2. Talk about it to release the emotions surrounding it.
3. Keep your body physically balanced to allow the healing to take place.
4. Receive acupuncture to clear the energy blockages caused by trauma.
5. Try Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). It has been shown to help people release energy blockages from trauma as well.
Dr. Shiroko Sokitch’s belongs to the Heart to Heart Medical Center and her column appears monthly. She can be reached at: dr*****@ht***.com.