This website deals with some heavy crap.  Proceed with caution.

The first reaction most of us have to traumatic experiences is to deny that they occurred at all.  We use a lot of energy pushing away memories, people, addictions, even our own bodies.  If you make it through that stage and find you're ready to take your past on, to stare it in the face and deal with it, you might feel like you're rushing into battle.  You're focused on getting this all behind you.  "Let's get it all done, NOW!!!

PTSD can be so painful, and leave us so desperate for a reason to live, that we'll charge into new treatments like a kid running to the tree on Christmas morning.  We want ALL THE TREATMENTS.  We need ALL THE RELIEF.

It's so ironic that some of the most effective treatments of PTSD are, at the same time, dangerous for those of us with PTSD.  I guess it's like a morphine drip if you're in pain; dosage matters.  You shouldn't try to DIY a morphine drip.  Too much and you die instantly, too little and pain remains.  The best approach is to consult a professional (a doctor, in the case of morphine) and prepare yourself to go very slowly.  

Especially when we're in pain, we need to learn to slow down.  The body is slower than the mind to process our experiences.  I've learned that rushing to treat the symptom of pain with no concern for the cause makes me complicit in my own abuse.  I'm just perpetuating the belief of worthlessness deep within.  So now I'm learning to resist my gut instinct to grasp at the closest, easiest, fastest way to relief.    Most of those quick solutions have destroyed me more than they've rebuilt me.  

PLEASE: take this website on in tiny bites. Increase exposure to trauma-related therapies with tentative, thoughtful, baby steps, in the process reaching out for the hand of someone wiser.   I might even suggest that on your first visit to this website, you set a timer and close the website window after 5 minutes.  Then, another day, allow yourself to stay here for 10 minutes, for example.  Stay at 5 or 10 minutes for as long as your body needs to.  Listen carefully to your body: notice how it reacts to the content on the screen.  Be understanding and non-judgemental of your physical responses, but don't ignore them.   Only increase your exposure to this information when it feels right IN YOUR BODY.  

Let the information and encouragement you find here drip slowly into your bloodstream, and comfort your body as he or she processes what's here.