Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) doesn't only affect the trauma survivor, it affects the whole family--including the children (Can Combat PTSD Get Transmitted to Children From Their Parents?). As a parent with PTSD, I think that it's easy to get caught up in what having it feels like for me, and it's easy to forget that it's also affecting those around me, including my husband and my stepson. My husband also has PTSD, so it's fairly easy for him to deal with my PTSD symptoms because he has them too. But before I started this post, I really stopped and thought about how it is for my stepson and other children who have parents with PTSD.

Reducing the stigma of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is something that we all can, and should, help in doing. If you are reading this post, then it's probably because you, or someone close to you, suffers from PTSD or some other type of mental illness. Those of us who are familiar with PTSD are, undoubtedly, also familiar with the stigma and discrimination that comes along with it. The good news is, there are things that we all can do to help reduce the stigmatization of PTSD sufferers. 

An important element of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recovery is to ask for help; but that didn’t come naturally for me (Are You Afraid To Ask For Mental Health Help?). My PTSD was caused by domestic violence while I was growing up in an alcoholic household. I learned at an early age to never ask for help and I had to overcome that learned behavior in order to recover. In my PTSD recovery, I had to learn to ask for help.

A posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recovery program often requires a network of supporters for the PTSD sufferer that includes loved ones, friends, doctors and even coworkers. This is because posttraumatic stress disorder doesn't only affect those who are diagnosed with it. Usually, many people play a part in the sufferer's PTSD recovery program. Sometimes it's hard to know how to handle it when someone with PTSD is triggered, anxious, or depressed -- what to say or do to make the situations better. These are muddy waters to navigate, but it can be done. You are able to help someone through their PTSD recovery program.

Hi, my name is Jami DeLoe and I am thrilled to be joining the HealthyPlace.com blogging community as a writer for Trauma! A PTSD Blog. I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) about four years ago, after suffering with it for well over 20 years. Read on to learn more about my journey with PTSD.

In my  previous video about walking meditation, I spoke a little about meditation in general, pointing out that not all meditation is done while sitting. One can also meditate while walking, and even perform a water walking meditation (not what you may think). In some ways, this is quite possibly the best way to meditate. Walking meditation can be seen as a kind of bridge between classic sit-still meditation and the ordinary activities of our lives.

Recovery from, or prevention of, sexual assault - this is our concern, in this pair of videos. As my blog co-author, Michele Rosenthal, has told us, "‘self-efficacy’ refers to one’s ability to feel ‘effective’", and achieving that must be a part of your recovery or prevention project. She also referred us to psychologist Albert Bandura's assertion that self-efficacy derives from one's ability to feel confident in specific situations.

Any sexual assault event leads naturally to a question: how can one get back one's sense of personal safety, after such a catastrophe? Michele’s July 24 blog post - PTSD and Self-Efficacy: Being Able to Protect Yourself - launches into this question, and it got a distinct reaction from me. I urgently wanted to add something to what she had to say - a male perspective on the problem of personal safety and how to achieve it.

When you see a child acting out and misbehaving, or an adult who seems unable to focus, connect or control emotions, how often do think to yourself, "Hmmm, I wonder if there's trauma in that person's background..." More often than not we just blame and feel abused and/or frustrated by such behaviors - even when they're our own. Understanding the link between childhood trauma and negative behavior patterns can be critical to treating them.

As someone struggling with PTSD, you've probably had a nightmare or two that evokes either your direct traumatic experience or the feelings that went along with it. Why do we have nightmares? What is their purpose? Is it possible to get them to stop?