Post traumatic stress

Hopper

Hopper

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I'm trying to get advice, and so is the rest of my family and extended family, on how to try and convince someone to get therapy for a traumatic experience they encounted.

Around 2 weeks ago my uncle was at the local store when an armed robbery occured (Macleod Melbourne). The robbery pretty much involved the shop clerk being in shock and not being able to open the register and then the robber grabbed my uncle and put the gun to his head. The robber actually tried to cock the gun but luckily due to the fact he was on drugs he wasn't able to do it. In the process of cocking the gun 4 bullets (non fired) were expelled out the side of the gun, all while the barrel was up against my uncles head.

Luckily in the end everyone got out unharmed, but my uncle is now being really different. He is quieter than normal and seems nervous all the time. I know this is expected, but he is pretty mnuch refusing to talk to anyone about it, not even his girlfriend (lived together for around 15 years) is really able to talk to him now. All of us are worried and want to know if there is a way to convince him he should talk to someone.
 
tim2

tim2

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mabye you or someone in youre family needs to talk to a therapist (youre GP should be able to help find one). the therapist should be able to advise you on the best way to help your'e uncle. hope it all works out, youre uncle is lucky to have you guys looking out for him.
 
Mo

Mo

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i would advice on getting him really really far away from where he lives right now.
definetely do not do anything major, he might freak out and then lose the plot .

definetely therapy is the only way to go. counselling is kinda gay because all they do is listen, what he needs is an in depth view of why he is reacting like this now.

i had a minor PTSD for about 2 days, luckily i was going overseas and a gazillion things happened at the same time, so it took my mind off it. being busy and off a routine is good.

but it does linger for about 3-4 weeks, well that was for me.
 
betelnut

betelnut

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Mo said:
i would advice on getting him really really far away from where he lives right now.
definetely do not do anything major, he might freak out and then lose the plot .

definetely therapy is the only way to go. counselling is kinda gay because all they do is listen, what he needs is an in depth view of why he is reacting like this now.

i had a minor PTSD for about 2 days, luckily i was going overseas and a gazillion things happened at the same time, so it took my mind off it. being busy and off a routine is good.

but it does linger for about 3-4 weeks, well that was for me.
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Ahhh.. thanks for the advice, doc. Especially the bit about counselling being "gay" - that's quite helpful. You need some counselling to deal with your homophobia. And just as an aside, being out of routine is often what triggers adverse reactions in people with serious mental health issues.

To the original poster, I'd suggest that you or your uncle's partner suggest that he visits his GP if you can get him to do it.

The Australian Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health is right near Macleod at the Austin (Repat) Hospital, and they have a good website with info for the public:

http://www.acpmh.unimelb.edu.au/generalCommunity.html

Good luck
 
Mo

Mo

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Hopper said:
Why do you say that? It's not really that easy to get him to leave where he is.
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because when i had my episode, i was just about to go overseas, so i didn't have time to even think about the situation or ponder about it, which really what ptsd is, thinking and over-analysing an issue without having a clear view of the situation.

to me it worked well.
and betelnut, counselling is gay.
 
mtb1611

mtb1611

Seymour
Someone who is quite assertive yet compassionate, needs to sit him down and talk to him about it, in "relaxed" surroundings: over a beer, at the beach, etc, and perhaps attempt to convince him that he needs to seek some professional help. They also need to reassure him that tis is not a "soft" option. Much easier said than done, but well worth the effort from my esperience. Best of luck, I hope it works out well, what a dreadful thing for him to have to go thru. Oh, and disregard Mo's advice, how a form of helpful therapy can be likened to sexual preference is either an odd perspective (diplomatic) or fucking retarded (realistic).
 
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T-Bone

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Trauma is culmulative. He really does needs to see someone before he appears to be over it. Trauma will sadly come back to haunt you. If you want some numbers of counsellors that specialise in trauma counselling I can pass them on. They are very good at what they do and will make a huge impact on the rest of his life.

I can not stress enough the importance of counselling after an incident like this. Recently I have seen two very strong people totally broken due to post traumatic stress disorder.

Its ok to say counselling is gay if you are fortunate enough to have had such a privilliaged life that doesnt involve trauma. Until you know the feeling of going to sleep (eventually) with images burnt deep into your mind dont make comments like that. Until you wake up with night sweats, or see the world differently because of your past, just STFU.
 
Povi

Povi

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T-Bone said:
Its ok to say counselling is gay if you are fortunate enough to have had such a privilliaged life that doesnt involve trauma. Until you know the feeling of going to sleep (eventually) with images burnt deep into your mind dont make comments like that. Until you wake up with night sweats, or see the world differently because of your past, just STFU.
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i would not have said that if something like that has happened to me. have you had anything happen? counselling? other forms of therapy? if not, dont complain about what people are saying because they might be the ones who have gone through it and know FIRSTHAND
 
NCR600

NCR600

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Bottom line is, if you feel the need for counselling, do it. Even if you don't and it is easy to obtain, it might be worthwhile. It also might be a waste of time, but you won't lose anything by having a chat to someone who not necessarily understands the situation, but knows how to move on from it.

Everyone is different in this regard. I know Vietnam Veterans who have witnessed (and done) things that you or I would consider to be fairly disturbing, but suffered no on-going effects. One is a family member, and knowing what my family is like, he would have gone quiet for a few days and moved on. My father was exactly the same when he saw 2 schoolkids get run over on Pennant Hills Road.

I also know VV's that are barely functioning alcoholics.

It's hard to give advice in this situation. From experience, if you push too hard to get your uncle to talk to a professional, it may turn him off the idea even more. I guess just keep an eye on him and be around if he needs you to be there.
 
muzza167

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Really all counseling does, is make you re-live the traumatic situation that got you there in the first place. I know, as a family member stopped going there for that exact reason.
Basically, a close understanding friend or family member can do everything a counselor could. This would be more effective as appointments over a course of a few months would do exactly as i have said in the first sentence a few times over. Where as a family member can be there at any time and will not pressure the person into talking about the situation that is bothering them.
I'm not saying that in every situation counseling is bad. If the person feels comfortable talking to a counselor then that is fine. I do understand that going to a counselor would benefit in some ways as they can give the person 'tools' to help them overcome the experience. A family member will, generally speaking, have better insight as to what the situation was, though counselors have less emotions regarding the situation, emotions overcome logic & reason. A family member will better understand it, and the problems the person is going through. You will always find that when a single person goes to counseling for whatever reason, that the counselor will request to speak with other people involved in the situation as well as the people that are emotionally closest to the person that is undergoing the counseling in order to gain a better understanding of what the situation really is, so they can understand how it is appearing to the patient/ how they are interpreting it and can undergo their psycho analysis and treatment.
The person then has to realise that sooner or later they will have to spill their emotions and talk to someone. The longer the person doesn't do anything about it, the worse it gets.... Like addiction :rolleyes:
 
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Hopper

Hopper

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I can't do much from here (I am in Adelaide) but would be willing to pass stuff to my dad (who is in Melbourne now seeing him) or to his girlfriend. We know he needs some help but we can't just tell him to see someone. He thinks that he is fine and we all know/see that he is just bottling it up inside. The major hurdle is getting him to accept and realise that it is ok to talk to someone about what happened.
 
S

sock

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i have post traumatic strees and alot of other stuff but im not going into that but no one can make someone go to councelling when someone did that to me it just made me worst and alot more depressed and angry the best thing is to let him deal with it his own way evryone is diffrent
 
thecat

thecat

NSWMTB, Central Tableland MBC
My wife is a hypno therapist and gets good result using EFT techniques.

It's a bit weird but it seems to get results and he can leart it himself if he doesn't want to go to a therapist

maybe point him towards http://www.emofree.com/articles.aspx?id=30

If he is interested the specialty series2 DVD has a sectionon how to deal with PTSD.

https://www.emofree.com/Store/Details.aspx?page=iSS2.htm&js=true

You should look at the foundartion series first but he'd probably pick up enough fromt he specialty dvd and if it appeals can look for a practitioner
Hope that helps
 
Grip

Grip

Yeah, yeah... blah, blah.
Let me put this as tactfully as possible. To those who pidgeon hole something as incredibly individual and variable as "therapy" saying stuff like "it's gay" or "all they do is listen".... hahahaha. Your simplistic reality stuns me.
 
Mo

Mo

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sometimes the simpler the solution the more effective it is.

i was merely advising on getting proper therapy not just sit down and tell me your problems.

something more constructive.
 
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