The Alcoholic Blogger

So I relapsed…Might as well blurt it out to the world.

But I am a firm believer that my alcoholism is a symptom of my mental illness.

Afterwards, I Spent 12 days in a behavioral health hospital to do some intense trauma therapy for my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The treatment is called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). It is a psychotherapy treatment used to alleviate the depression and agony associated with traumatic memories. It was recommended to me for my anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, and insomnia. It’s a procedure where Eye movements are used to occupy the person’s attention to an external stimulus, while the person is simultaneously concentrating on internal distressing memories.

As with any form of psychotherapy, there may be a temporary increase in distress. The
side effects can include unresolved memories brought to your attention, nightmares, and extreme feelings of sadness might emerge after treatment. At the end of EMDR therapy, they hope for the outcome of new healthy responses to the trauma.

I’d like to hear from anyone out there who has also tried this treatment, and how it did or didn’t work out for you.

Since I so recently participated, I am unsure of my results just yet…but will blog more later about it.

written by The Alcoholic Blogger \\ tags: EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, flashbacks, intense trauma therapy, nightmares, post traumatic stress disorder, psychotherapy, ptsd