Category: Conditions

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Discovering New Pathways to Eating Disorder Recovery

Dana Sedlak, LCSW, CEDS-C, was a wonderful guest on our recent Recovery.com Podcast episode. We were honored to learn more about her personal and professional experiences with eating disorder recovery, advancements in care, and how parents can navigate recovery with their children. Dana’s professional experience has centered around adolescents and their families, which she continues to this day. 

You can find Dana’s episode here and hear from our past guests.

A Passionate Eating Disorder Specialist

Dana Sedlak is a certified eating disorder specialist, licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), and a consultant with the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP). She’s worked primarily with adolescents at several treatment providers for eating disorder recovery. She strives to help teens rediscover their personal identity, learn healthy coping skills, and feel empowered and hopeful in their recovery.

Dana’s own experience as an adolescent with an eating disorder, and her subsequent recovery, fuels the daily passion she brings to her work.

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Dana’s personal experience with an eating disorder began in 8th grade. Mono left her unable to participate in sports, which was a key aspect of her life. She also went through grief at that time, which, 

“I would describe it as a perfect storm, right? There were so many different things happening in my life at that time that really kind of set me up for the actual development.”

Mono led her to lose weight and nearly every form of socialization, like school and sports. The grief, sickness, life upheaval, and stress led to unhealthy and unpleasant coping behaviors. Dana says, 

“It was very clear that I didn’t want to be doing the behaviors that I was doing, but I had no idea how to stop them.” 

Dana bravely involved her family once she realized something was wrong. As someone who loves writing and how it let her voice what she really felt, Dana wrote her family a letter describing what she was dealing with and that she needed their help. They responded promptly and got her into treatment. But even with their quick and loving response, Dana still struggled with imposter syndrome and worrying she was just ‘being dramatic.’ She remembers wondering,

“Maybe it’s not a big deal. Maybe I’m just experiencing something that everybody else in the world or all the other adolescent females might also be experiencing. And so feeling, like, am I being dramatic? Am I making this to be something way more than it is?”

Telling her family about her struggles also meant giving up her coping tool, uncovering her deep secret, and committing to treatment. Dana recalls,

“There was a swift, also, panic, right? Of what did I just do? But then there was a moment of relief, of okay, this is no longer just mine. And someone is going to help me.” 

The Importance of Communication and Forming Personal Identity

Dana’s personal story and what she’s experienced as a treatment provider highlights the crucial aspect of communication—between parents and adolescents, treatment providers and patients, and even within ourselves. She suggests parents keep an open line of communication with their kids to catch issues before they arise, get prompt treatment when they do, and validate challenges along the way.

Identity also becomes a crucial issue to address in treatment for adolescents. Dana called out the tendency for teens (and adults) to tie their identity to the sport they play, their extracurricular activities, and their grade point average. While those aspects may be key parts of their personal identity, exploring who they are beyond that can help teens understand how and why eating disorders have become a coping mechanism. Dana says, 

“We have to be able to help somebody understand themselves enough to realize, how is this [the eating disorder] helping me? How is this serving me? What is this doing for me–positively, without the judgment around it–to then figure out. Okay, so what are my other options? But if we don’t know that to begin with, we’re never going to figure out other options.”

Social media has also affected how young adults view and form their identity. The positive reinforcement of likes and shares encourages them to develop “suitable” versions of themselves. Managing this can lead to the stress associated with eating disorders or encourage weight loss through unrealistic portrayals of bodies and body image online. Through treatment, Dana strives to make teens feel like they’re living an authentic life true to themselves and who they are. She says, 

“I want them to just feel like they’re living a life of purpose that’s true to them. And that’s going to be the biggest protective factor...”

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How Parents Can Help: Early Intervention

By the time a parent notices their child struggling with an eating disorder (unless they’re well-aware of the signs), it can have already progressed to needing intensive lifestyle changes and treatment. Regarding how parents often feel when discovering this, Dana empathetically says,

“There can feel like, there’s a lot of blame and shame in parenting, feeling like it’s a parent’s fault, or that they didn’t see something.” … “I think it needs to be everybody being more educated and knowing how we start to see these early onset signs.” 

The earlier intervention happens, the better treatment outcomes become (that’s true for eating disorders and addiction.) An honest and compassionate conversation can be the first step in initiating treatment. When these interventions happen, 

“And to me, if we’re doing that, we’re not just preventing eating disorders, we’re preventing a significant amount of mental health issues.” … “You have to be integrated into your own family unit, as best as you can and have the conversations as much as you can, just as a first step, as a preventative, as part of the family culture.”

Relating to this, our host Dr. Malasri Chaudhery-Malgeri adds,

“I think my message to parents who are doing that, is that you’re trying and that matters. And eventually, usually, that will get noticed. So don’t worry, you know, like as long as you’re making that effort and you’re trying and you’re keeping those lines of communication open, that’s great.”

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Advancements and Goals for Eating Disorder Treatment

More open communication and a team-oriented approach in the home is a preventative measure Dana sees having vast benefits. She says,

“…how do we eliminate that power struggle as much as possible of, we’re here to help you recover, but that also doesn’t look like me trying to take this thing away from you and getting into that back and forth with you, right? We can kind of both remove ourselves from that and figure out, how do we be a team? Against the eating disorder is what I always try to phrase it as, right?”

Family therapy and education on eating disorders also helps families heal as a collective unit. Many treatment centers, especially ones for adolescents, have started seeing the importance of family care and incorporating it as a vital component. 

Coaching has also become a vital tool in long-term eating disorder recovery. Therapists and/or  those with lived experience can become certified as eating disorder recovery coaches and walk beside people in their recovery. This keeps the patient connected to support without intensive care, or really the feeling of ‘being in treatment.’

As for what Dana would tell others struggling with an eating disorder, especially teens, she says, 

“But taking the chance, even if you don’t know that you want to get rid of the eating disorder, that’s okay. How can we still help you take a step towards feeling better right now? And like I was saying before, the rest will come. You deserve to feel better, you deserve a space to have less pain, regardless of your commitment level.”

Listen to Dana’s Episode Now

We’re grateful for Dana’s time and expertise, and for the illuminating conversations we had with our host Dr. Malasri Chaudhery-Malgeri and co-host Amanda Uphoff, Recovery.com’s Chief of Staff and a woman in recovery from an eating disorder and alcohol use disorder. 
You can find Dana’s episode here!

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Dissociative Identity Disorder and Trauma: Coping and Healing

Have you ever driven home lost in thought, unaware of what you experienced during your drive? Not even sure if all the lights you passed were green? People often chalk that up as dissociation, which is true. It can feel a little freaky or odd, but it’s been normalized as something that happens to everyone. Someone living with dissociative identity disorder (DID) experiences a much different reality—severe dissociation, gaps in their memory, and new identities that develop.

Trauma can cause DID. Many experts have explored this connection, including Athena Phillips, who we spoke to in our recent podcast episode. You can listen to that here. 

What Is Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)?

Dissociative identity disorder, once known as multiple personality disorder, describes someone with two or more separate, independent identities1 or ‘alters.’ People can have dozens of alters with their own habits, memories, and even genders. DID is one of several dissociative disorders1 marked by derealization, memory loss, distorted self-identity, and disruptions in consciousness. 

Each identity has their own view of the world and makes their own decisions2. Someone with DID may know about all their alters or just a few, especially ones that come out more often. Patients typically experience memory loss when various identities take over—alters aren’t usually aware of what the others are doing, and memory loss occurs as a result. For example, if an alter brings home a new vase, someone with DID may not recognize it later or know where it came from.

Each alter has their own first-person experience and forms memories based on what they see, feel, and think. Other alters and the true self aren’t usually able to retrieve these memories2, though many clinicians propose they could if they didn’t strongly believe they can’t. Believing they can access an alter’s memories could allow the true self or other alters to retrieve them.

Causes of DID

DID most often occurs as a response to trauma1, typically physical, sexual, or emotional abuse in childhood. The post-traumatic model of DID2 proposes that “​​dissociative identities are the primary results of early trauma and the relational, cognitive, emotional, and neurobiological consequences of it.” Children may unconsciously resort to dissociation and numerous personalities to both avoid and cope with traumatic memories.

Each alter develops as a disconnected, separate, autonomous subset of the self. Picture islands separated by deep waters instead of one town. The true self may travel to different islands depending on what their situation demands and memories that arise, often memories of severe trauma. Once the true self goes to an island, it becomes their whole reality and remains closed off from the other islands.

Clinicians and researchers have found trauma to be the leading and primarily identifiable cause of DID2, though some genetic dispositions, social influences, and personality traits could contribute to dissociation and someone’s inability to cope with stress. Someone who’s more likely to experience dissociation and struggle to deal with stress could be more likely to develop DID.

Diagnosing DID

Most people with DID don’t get an accurate diagnosis until later in life1 because DID has similar symptoms to other personality disorders, including amnesia, dissociation, and losing consciousness. Particularly, borderline personality disorder (BDP) shares similar symptoms, and like DID, patients often present as suicidal and engaging in self-harm. BPD patients also struggle with emotional regulation and dissociation. To meet diagnostic criteria for DID, experts say patients must present with these 4 factors1:

  1. The ability to dissociate
  2. Intense, overwhelming traumatic experiences 
  3. Alters with unique personalities, names, and memories
  4. Homelife instability

Children may cope with unstable homes and overwhelming trauma by self-soothing through dissociation and developing alters. Someone with DID also has altered brain structures3, usually the hippocampus and amygdala, which can affect memory and overall functioning. Looking at the brain can help doctors accurately diagnose DID and rule out other diagnoses. Observing patients also clues doctors into the personality shifts related to DID, as a few key physical signs often occur:

  • Eyes rolling
  • Fading into a trance-like state
  • Blinking or twitching eyes
  • Sudden posture changes

History of DID

Until 1994, DID was known as multiple personality disorder and not well understood3 or sympathized by the medical community. Its strong connection to trauma has recently become better known and understood, helping patients get the diagnosis and help they need.

Before it was recognized as a mental health condition, DID was thought to be the work of demonic possession1. Cultures outside North America were more likely to attribute symptoms to possession, while schizophrenia or psychosis incorrectly explained many symptoms in other cultures. Internal voices from other alters were explained as schizophrenia, which can have similarities.

How Trauma Can Lead to Dissociative Identity Disorder

Children or adults who experience more trauma and stress than they’re capable of dealing with can develop DID as a coping mechanism1. Their experience goes beyond what their mind can process and articulate, leading to dissociation as a way to escape and alternate identities to process a fractured sense of self. 

Certain alters may be more capable of dealing with the traumas experienced and come out when situations mimic the original trauma, or memories of the trauma arise. For example, a tough male alter may take over when a female with a history of assault feels uncomfortable around certain men. He comes out to protect her and deal with a situation she cannot. 

Dissociation as a Predictor of DID

Intense trauma can cause dissociation1, as seen in some cases of post-traumatic stress disorder. An out-of-body experience during an assault can be the brain’s effort at protection. Children who suffer repeated abuse or instability in their homes may regularly dissociate to protect themselves. Alters can eventually present during dissociation and take over general consciousness, leading to amnesia. 

Small Social Cues Can Trigger Shifts in Identity

Social cues can prompt small behavioral changes, triggering an alter to take over2 in someone with DID. As an example, picture a formal event. This requires professionalism and different social etiquette. Someone without DID could adapt to the situation by speaking more formally, standing straighter, and carrying themselves differently. But someone with DID may unknowingly shift to an alter identity that’s more poised and professional. Their true self may not remember the event or what they talked about if the alter takes over.

Treatment for DID and Trauma

Effective treatment addresses the symptoms of DID and its underlying trauma1. Clinicians often use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to treat DID, similar to other personality disorders. For DID patients specifically, hypnosis has been an effective option to reach alters and discuss their memories, views on the world, and life experiences. 

Therapy teaches patients with DID more about their condition, how to regulate their emotions, manage stress, and function in day-to-day life with their unique symptoms. Therapists work with the patient to glean memories from different alters and piece together underlying trauma so the true self and their alters can begin processing. As therapy brings more memories to light, they can become more readily accessed by different alters and the true self. 

Finally, therapy works to reunite the self1 and help patients with DID become more aware of their unified self and its relationship to the world they interact with. Reunifying their sense of self can reduce the number of alters, though therapeutic interventions often can’t merge them all. But with fewer alters, patients are more likely to remain as their true selves throughout various situations and potential triggers. 

EMDR and Hypnosis

Patients with DID respond well to hypnotherapy1 as they’re more receptive to hypnosis. In their hypnotized state, therapists may be able to talk to alters that traditionally stay hidden. These alters can be crucial to the healing process and help the therapist learn more about their patient, giving access to memories and experiences the true self and other alters may not know about.

EMDR uses guided eye movements to help patients process trauma4. Tracking an object back and forth offers a distraction and can make traumatic memories feel less intense, helping patients discuss and process them without shifting to an alter identity or becoming too uncomfortable. Not every patient with DID will feel comfortable accessing memories through EMDR, but for those who are, it can help unify their sense of self and manage symptoms.

Medications

Some medications, like antipsychotics and antidepressants, can manage symptoms of DID like suicidality, mood dysregulation, and improve self-harm behaviors. However, clinicians haven’t yet found a medication or combination of medications to treat DID1. More options may become available as they study and develop new medications. 

Optimized Care for DID Patients

A safe therapeutic environment and collaborative, compassionate care can help DID patients1 find the best treatment outcomes and stay in treatment. Therapists should also recognize and stay aware of alters not communicating what patients learn or discover in sessions. They’ll likely need to bring each alter forward to ensure they talk with them and identify their unique personalities. Building rapport and comfort also encourages alters to come out and speak with their therapist.

Life-Long Care

Patients with DID often stay in treatment their whole lives1 to receive ongoing grounding in their unified self, process trauma, and navigate stressors as they arise. In some cases, it can take years for the therapist to meet and identify each alter. A positive relationship between the patient and their therapist (and treatment team as a whole) is crucial in keeping them in treatment and creating a comfortable environment.

Identifying Alters

Therapists can aim to identify all alters, helping patients become more aware of them, their personalities, and what triggers them to arise. Once patients and their therapist know who’s all there, they can work on identifying their backgrounds and merging alters into one self identity. Therapists can bring alters ‘to the front’ using hypnosis or, if appropriate, mimicking a situation that would bring out a suspected alter. 

Compassionate, Personalized Care

Ultimately, therapists should adapt treatment to their patient by recognizing their comfort levels, assessing their trauma responses, and building a positive therapeutic relationship. Identifying alters and processing trauma shouldn’t come at the patient’s harm. The therapeutic relationship can determine which treatments may be most effective and comfortable for each patient, encouraging them to engage and participate throughout the course of treatment.

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The Untold Power of Compassionate Care: Addressing Stigma with Dr. Ishant Rana

In our recent podcast episode, Recovery.com was thrilled to talk with Dr. Ishant Rana, Clinical Director at Alpha Healing Center. We explored the weight of stigma in India and how rehabs like Alpha Healing Center actively shift from punitive approaches to compassionate, personalized care. Dr. Ishant describes the impact he sees and ways the behavioral healthcare system could improve even further. 

Listen to Dr. Ishant Rana’s podcast episode here. 

Building Experience and Understanding

Dr. Ishant Rana has practiced clinical psychology in India for over 13 years. He graduated from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, India. He’s worked across a variety of focuses, including addiction, personality disorders, psychosis, depression, and anxiety. Dr. Rana joined Alpha Healing Center as Clinical Director, impressed with their multifaceted programs and respectful, non-stigmatized approach to care.

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Alpha Healing Center combines medical and psychological care, helping clients safely detox and receive the mental healthcare they need. They use advanced services like neurofeedback and repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to heal addiction’s underlying causes, all while providing comfortable living spaces and an atmosphere of support and camaraderie.

Making a Difference with Personalized Treatment And Education

Dr. Rana’s work at Alpha Healing Center leverages multiple forms of therapy, medical services, and holistic practices to create personalized care plans for each patient. Alpha Healing Center treats both addiction and underlying mental health concerns, helping Dr. Rana and his colleagues provide the comprehensive care needed. 

Dr. Rana believes everyone needs and deserves help, especially people with substance dependence who may otherwise be seen as “too difficult.” His work at Alpha Healing Center allows him to provide the compassionate care needed to overcome stigma and impose the empowering possibility of recovery. He’s found psychoeducation to be a particularly powerful tool in disputing stigmas around addiction, including myths like:

  • Addiction is caused by a lack of willpower; enough willpower treats addiction
  • Relapses mean treatment failed
  • Someone with an addiction must also have a personality disorder

Science-backed truths educate patients and their loved ones, helping them heal as a unit.

Future Directions and Hope for Communities

As Dr. Rana outlines in his podcast episode, accurate addiction education can benefit both the person suffering and their loved ones. Psychoeducation teaches the truths about addiction and mental health conditions, helping communities view those with addiction in a more helpful light. Rather than being shunned or disgraced, those with addiction could instead receive support and encouragement to attend treatment. 

Fortunately, this is already happening in India and worldwide, especially as younger generations set the standard for mental health awareness and non-stigmatized care. As families and individuals learn more about addiction, they become more equipped to support their loved ones and pursue treatment with hope compassionately. Dr. Rana says,

“So people are getting better, they’re learning more, but I think we have to go a long way,” says Ishant.

Like recovery itself, education and awareness are journeys. Practitioners like Ishant Rana and Alpha Healing Center combat stigma and change viewpoints in hundreds of lives through their caring, evidence-based care, creating an approach that leaves a lasting impact.

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What Are Eating Disorders? Types, Symptoms, and Treatment

Eating disorders are illnesses defined by disturbances in eating patterns1 and food intake. They also include a preoccupation with body image, calories, and weight. People of any age, sex, gender, and background can develop an eating disorder. Someone with an eating disorder (also called ED) may avoid certain foods or restrict their diet, exercise excessively, use laxatives, or vomit after eating. 

Eating disorders are often an expression of the emotional pains in conditions like depression, trauma, and anxiety. Someone may develop an ED as a way to punish or gain control over themselves. Eating disorders can also develop due to genetic predispositions and social factors. Someone with an ED runs a higher risk of physical health complications, mental health decline, death, and suicide. 

A blend of therapy, weight restoration, and nutritional counseling can not only treat symptoms of an eating disorder, but heal its underlying causes for life-long recovery.

Listen to our podcast to learn more about eating disorder and addiction recovery from Recovery.com’s Chief of Staff, Amanda Uphoff. 

What Are The Causes of Eating Disorders?

Multiple factors can cause eating disorders1, including genetic predispositions, peer influence, mental health conditions, and bullying. Behaviors and personality dispositions can also lead to an eating disorder and affect what types of eating disorders may develop.

Types of Eating Disorders

Eating disorders take many forms, from restricting diets, purging, and a blend of both. Healing exists for each kind of eating disorder and its potential health complications.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa causes someone to restrict their food intake2, exercise compulsively, and intensely fear weight gain. Someone with anorexia will often have a distorted body image, leading them to feel constantly overweight and in a pursuit of thinness. Anorexia has a very high mortality rate compared to other mental illnesses due to the health effects of emaciation (extreme thinness) and risk for suicide.

Anorexia is more common in females2 and occurs most often in adolescence or early adulthood. Someone with anorexia often won’t recognize their low weight, which can make it difficult for them to understand the severity of their condition and agree to treatment. As they progressively lose weight, severe health complications and other symptoms can arise, including:

  • Feeling cold all the time
  • Irregular periods or no periods at all, which can lead to infertility
  • Constipation
  • Tiredness and fatigue
  • Low and irregular heart rate
  • Shallow breathing or feeling out of breath
  • Dry skin and brittle nails
  • Bone thinning
  • Organ failure
  • Heart and brain damage

Co-occurring conditions like depression and anxiety often contribute to the development of anorexia2, as does growing up overweight, having parents or blood relatives with anorexia, and being body shamed by peers or loved ones. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people with anorexia1, following death from health complications caused by undereating and excessive exercise.

Early intervention, weight restoration, and therapy can reverse the effects of anorexia and teach the coping tools needed for long-term recovery, helping patients navigate day-to-day stressors and heal their relationships with food—and themselves.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is defined as a pattern of binge eating and purging3. Binge eating involves eating large meals or many high-calorie foods in one sitting, often with the inability to stop. Purging is used to compensate for the binge and prevent weight gain. Someone may purge through self-induced vomiting, using laxatives, excessive exercise, or fasting. Binge-purging can quickly become a self-feeding cycle.

Bulimia nervosa occurs most commonly in young women1. It can develop due to brain abnormalities, social influence, and mental health conditions. Bulimia can lead to weight loss and symptoms like:

  • Irregular periods
  • Throat and mouth pain from the stomach acid in vomit
  • Tooth damage and erosion, also from stomach acid
  • Stomach pain and bloating
  • Fatigue
  • Dehydration from purging
  • Imbalanced electrolytes

Unlike anorexia, someone with bulimia may not appear underweight; they can even look overweight. That’s why clinical evaluations and examinations are important for diagnosis and treatment of bulimia. A doctor will check their patient’s vital signs, ask questions related to binge or purging behaviors, and check for inflammation in the mouth and throat to diagnose bulimia nervosa and start treatment.

Therapy can address the underlying causes of bulimia and teach skills to manage binge-eating, while weight restoration and nutritional care can improve physical health.

Binge-Eating Disorder

Someone with binge-eating disorder will binge on food, but not purge afterwards1. Binge-eating often includes a lack of control and inability to stop eating, which can cause someone to eat large meals. They may feel sick after binging and gain weight over time, potentially becoming obese. 

Binge-eating disorder can affect men and women of all ages. It can lead to extreme weight gain, shame, and secretive habits to conceal binging behaviors. Other symptoms include:

  • Eating very quickly
  • Eating despite feeling full or not hungry
  • Stomach pain due to overeating
  • Eating alone or in a secret location to hide eating habits
  • Lying about eating habits
  • Frequent dieting to try to control weight gain
  • Bloating

Therapy can help someone with binge-eating disorder learn to control binging and find comfort in other activities. Personalized eating plans and exercise regimes can also reduce weight at a safe, comfortable pace.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

ARFID causes avoidant or restrictive eating habits4. Someone with ARFID may avoid certain food groups, like carbs, or specific foods, like ice cream. They may also restrict their eating and not meet their required calorie intake. ARFID differs from other eating disorders in that body image and fear of weight gain don’t contribute to food habits; rather, someone may avoid or restrict food simply because they don’t like it.

ARFID was commonly thought of as a childhood disorder, like a more severe version of picky eating. But physicians saw adults experiencing symptoms too, and moved to shift the diagnosis to both children and adults. 

Symptoms of ARFID include:

  • Avoiding food groups or types of food suddenly and dramatically
  • Eating much less than usual
  • Eating fewer and fewer foods because they no longer sound appetizing
  • Weight loss
  • Reduced interest in food and meal times
  • Low/no appetite
  • Stomach and digestive problems

Treatment for ARFID often includes therapy to work through food avoidance and identify foods someone will enjoy eating. Weight restoration and nutritional care may be needed, but not always. 

Other Specified Eating or Feeding Disorder (OSFED) and Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder (UFED)

You can think of OSFED as a mix of eating disorder symptoms5 that don’t fall under anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder. A patient with this diagnosis may partially meet the requirement for one or more ED diagnoses. OSFED recognizes disordered behaviors and negative relationships with food as a hindrance on daily living, mental health, and physical health.

Similarly, UFED encapsulates eating disorder behaviors and symptoms that may not have a distinct classification. Some scholars and physicians debate the helpfulness of UFED and OSFED5, and instead suggest a singular term of ‘mixed eating disorders’. This term could offer more clarification for those diagnosed with it.

The symptoms of OSFED and UFED can vary widely, but typically include:

  • Restrictive diets; not eating certain foods
  • Purging behaviors (vomiting, excessive exercise, using laxatives)
  • An obsession with size and weight
  • Body dysmorphia

Therapy and possible weight restoration can help someone with OSFED or UFED heal short and long-term.

Pica

Pica is defined as eating non-food items or substances6, like mud or chalk. To diagnose, the person must be older than 2 and eating non-foods outside of cultural or societal norms. Pica can accompany disorders like schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or trichotillomania (compulsively pulling out hair). It commonly occurs in intellectually impaired patients, children, and pregnant women. One study found 28% of pregnant women experienced pica6 during their pregnancy. 

Pica doesn’t have a direct cause6, though it’s been theorized that iron and zinc deficiencies can cause cravings for non-foods7. Pica can also be fueled by curiosity—most people may wonder about eating non-foods or want to, but they realize they shouldn’t. Intellectually impaired people and children may lack this reasoning and eat non-foods regularly. Children may also resort to non-foods to survive in neglectful or abusive environments.

Common pica ‘foods’ include:

  • Dirt and clay
  • Ice
  • Charcoal
  • Coffee grounds
  • Eggshells
  • Paper
  • Flaking paint (which can lead to lead poisoning)
  • Rocks, bricks, and cement
  • Plastic (plastic bags, containers, chunks)

Rumination

Rumination syndrome describes habitually regurgitating food8 and swallowing it or spitting it out. It usually happens 10-15 minutes after eating and can last up to two hours. Unintentional stomach and diaphragm tension can cause regurgitation. It happens without nausea and retching, but can cause stomach pain. Once someone learns how to do it, it can become habitual, like burping.

Symptoms of rumination syndrome include:

  • Weight loss
  • Malnutrition
  • Teeth erosion
  • Electrolyte imbalances
  • Abdominal pain

Rumination can co-occur with conditions like depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). It can be a symptom of an eating disorder or occur alongside one. Treatment often includes breathing exercises to relax the diaphragm, behavioral therapies, and other relaxation methods to practice after meals. Staying relaxed can prevent the over-tightening of the stomach and diaphragm that allows rumination.

Treatment for Eating Disorders

Eating disorder treatment1 often includes a blend of behavioral therapies, nutritional counseling, medically supervised weight restoration, and medications. Treatment aims to address the ED’s symptoms and underlying causes, like anxiety, stress, depression, or trauma. Therapists work in 1:1, group, and family settings to help patients heal their relationship with food, navigate co-occurring conditions, and develop a relapse prevention plan.

Behavioral Therapies for Eating Disorders

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for eating disorders1 addresses binging, purging, and restrictive behaviors. It teaches coping tools and helps patients identify and change untrue beliefs about food, their body, and self-image.

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) helps in similar ways, but focuses more on accepting thoughts and emotions and living with their potential discomfort—without restricting, binging, or purging. It centers on mindfulness, helping patients experience emotions without trying to change or limit them.

Behavioral therapies often occur alongside medications (like antidepressants or antipsychotics), medical care, and nutritional counseling.

Medical Care and Monitoring

Medical care may take place in an inpatient or outpatient setting, depending on each patient’s presentation and how underweight they may be. Weight restoration aims to safely restore weight until patients reach a healthy base weight. It focuses on physical health and safety, but restoring weight can also restore cognitive functioning.

Weight restoration9 can be done via feeding tube, nutritional supplements, and meal monitoring to ensure patients eat full meals. Other medical services may include heart monitoring, medications, and potential life-saving measures in the case of heart failure or other organ failures.

In an inpatient setting, patients receive 24/7 care and monitoring. This may be necessary for severely underweight patients and/or those who refuse to eat due to an eating disorder. Nurses and clinical staff monitor vital signs and track weight. In an outpatient setting, care and monitoring may be available, but not 24/7. This can fit the needs of someone at a stable weight, but needing ongoing therapeutic care and monitoring.

Nutritional Counseling

In nutritional counseling, a certified nutrition counselor assesses current eating habits10 and identifies dietary changes. They help create meal plans, educate on the importance and effects of good nutrition, and help patients with eating disorders change how they view food. For example, they may explain the benefits of feared food groups and “fear foods” to lower the fear and negative associations someone may have.

Nutritional counseling can disprove untrue beliefs or fears about food and help patients feel more comfortable eating new/more foods, complementing behavioral therapies and  weight restoration.

What to Expect When Seeking Treatment

What happens when you seek treatment for an eating disorder? It varies for everyone, but you can expect your appointments with therapists and medical providers to follow general structures.

Medical Providers

You’ll typically meet with your primary care physician (PCP) first to start the treatment process, then see specialists at their referral. In this initial appointment, you and your doctor will discuss what you’ve been experiencing and struggling with. Based on your discussion, you can ask questions like:

  • Do my symptoms meet the diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder?
  • What treatment do you recommend?
  • What level of care do you recommend for my symptoms and their effect on my life?
  • What can I do to take care of myself at home?
  • Will I be put on medication? Which one, and what are its side effects?

Your doctor will likely provide physical evaluations, checking your mouth, throat, stomach, and your heart rate, among other vital signs. These evaluations can reveal and confirm health concerns, potentially leading to additional lab testing or other functional tests. Your doctor will use the results of their evaluations to determine the best next steps for you.

At the end of your appointment, you’ll likely leave with referrals to specialists, therapists, or a plan to start intensive care in an inpatient or outpatient setting. In severe cases, a PCP may send you directly to an emergency room.

Therapists

Your first therapy session for eating disorder recovery often covers your history with eating disorders and general information about yourself. You’ll talk about what brought you into treatment, and depending on how much time you have, you may take assessments to help your therapist better understand your mental state and personality. Future sessions cover current and past issues more in depth, focusing on the thoughts and beliefs behind eating disorders, identifying triggers, and learning coping tools.

Overall, think of your first session as your therapist getting to know you, and you feeling comfortable with them. If you don’t find the right therapist on your first try, that’s okay. You’re encouraged to connect with new therapists if your current one doesn’t feel like the right fit. 

Lifestyle Strategies and Habits to Manage Eating Disorders

Lifestyle changes and new habits can help manage eating disorders. Remember to seek professional treatment as your first step in recovery, using new habits and lifestyle changes to complement your recovery and form your relapse prevention plan. 

Prioritize Good Sleep

Good sleep can help your mind and body work their best. This benefits your recovery and well-being as a whole. Try these tips to improve how long you sleep and your sleep quality:

  1. Create a nighttime routine that you enjoy and look forward to—purposefully wind down and prepare for sleep the same way each night to train your brain.
  2. Make sure your bedroom is a calm space focused on sleep. Don’t use it to work, eat, or scroll social media.
  3. Dim your lights an hour or longer before bed to trigger your natural circadian rhythm and make you feel sleepier.
  4. Get sunlight in the morning and evening, ideally the sunrise and sunset. You could take morning and evening walks, or sit outside on your porch to view and feel the sun. This can regulate your circadian rhythm.

Practice Stress-Reduction Strategies

Effective stress reduction strategies can vary person-to-person. You can identify what works for you in therapy, or you may already know from past experience. Keep one or two methods in mind to use as-needed, or work some of these examples into your weekly schedule: 

  • Drawing
  • Meditation
  • Talking to a friend or loved one
  • Journaling
  • Baking or cooking
  • Knitting, crocheting, or sewing
  • Taking a walk
  • Spending time in nature

Build and Connect With Support

Connect often with your support network as you undergo treatment, walk your recovery path, and live in long-term recovery. Your support network could include family, friends, and people at your work or place of worship. Keep them up-to-date on your treatment journey and how they can support you.

Friends and family can offer their support and keep you accountable. For example, they may catch or point out potential behaviors you’ve reverted back to, or new habits that could lead to an ED recurrence. 

Find Eating Disorder Treatment

Treatment for all types of eating disorders is an essential start in recovery. A personalized blend of therapy, nutritional counseling, and medical care can restore physical health and heal underlying causes and conditions. You can hear a first-account story of eating disorder recovery by listening to the episode with Amanda Uphoff on Recovery.com’s podcast.

To find eating disorder treatment, you can browse our list of treatment providers and compare services, pricing, and reviews to find the best center for your or a loved one’s needs. 

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Understanding the Physical Toll: How Anxiety Impacts the Body and Ways to Cope

Learning how anxiety affects the body can help you understand mysterious symptoms and the impact untreated mental health conditions can have. Although anxiety can manifest in many ways, not everyone will experience physical symptoms. On the other hand, some people may feel the physical symptoms most acutely. 

Anxiety’s physical symptoms could first seem purely like a physical health condition, especially if you’ve never been diagnosed with it. Set an appointment with your doctor if you’re wondering if your symptoms may be caused by or related to anxiety.

What Is Anxiety?

People with anxiety disorders experience frequent and persistent worry1 out of their control.  This can manifest as generalized anxiety disorder or as a specific phobia, such as social anxiety disorder or panic disorder. Even when temporary stressors resolve, people with anxiety disorders don’t experience relief. Anxiety can be thought of as a constant anticipation of future threats2.

For example, someone with anxiety may constantly worry about their job, their health, or the safety of their loved ones. They’ll perseverate on worries like, “What if I’m not performing well and get fired? What if my loved one gets into an accident or gets sick? What if I get sick or hurt?”  It may feel like a preventative measure to prepare for worst-case scenarios, but in reality, these festering worries just lead to stress and anxiety.

A lack of issues does not alleviate their anxiety. That often means they need to learn how to reduce their anxiety manually, since it won’t fade in times without stress. They can learn to counter recurrent and persistent worries, stopping the thoughts from lingering and causing symptoms of anxiety.

Physical Symptoms of Anxiety

Some of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety3 include:

  1. Headaches
  2. Shortness of breath
  3. Nausea
  4. Diarrhea
  5. Back pain
  6. Insomnia
  7. Racing heart (also called tachycardia)

Anxiety affecting your physical health is also called somatization4, where emotions and feelings express as physical pain or discomfort. This can happen with other mental health conditions too, but is especially common with anxiety. 

Cognitive Effects

Anxiety can affect how you process and take in information5. For example, if you’re in a near-constant state of hyperarousal, benign events could seem scary or exacerbate your anxiety. Feeling anxious can also make it harder to make educated decisions and react appropriately.

Anxiety may prevent you from concentrating and remembering dates, information, and tasks you need to get done. If your brain is stressed, it may not feel like those things are important enough to be remembered. Instead, you may perseverate on potential threats and prepare for fear.

Anxiety can also distort your perception5. It can cause stronger reactions to cues of threat, like fearful expressions, an edged tone, or an unwanted task you suddenly must do. The threat itself may not even be a threat or is a small one, but a distorted perception from anxiety makes it feel much scarier. You may experience friends and loved ones questioning your reactions or anxiety levels and telling you “it’s no big deal.” From your perspective, though, it does feel like a big deal. 

Immune System and Stress Response

A perceived threat triggers your body’s stress response2. Since anxiety can alter perceptions and make non-threats seem threatening, it can regularly activate the stress response. This sends floods of stress hormones and other stress responses throughout the body. 

The stress response is intended to help you survive2 and escape threats, so your heart rate increases, you get a spike in adrenaline, your muscles tense for action, and you breathe faster. While this works great in certain situations, it’s not always intended to happen and can feel distressing.

Excess stress hormones can affect the immune system6 similarly to an inflammatory disorder. Hormone-releasing glands may work ineffectively after continued activation and use. This can also make you more susceptible to autoimmune diseases and other health problems, especially if you have chronic stress or long-term untreated anxiety.

Gastrointestinal Effects

Anxiety can sometimes feel like a pit in your stomach. Your brain and gut share a strong connection7, which is why anxiety can cause nausea, pain, and diarrhea. The gut-brain axis is a complex communication network that involves the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system, linking emotional and cognitive areas of the brain to your gut. Anxiety can activate the autonomic nervous system8, which can impact your gut and lead to symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea. These painful and disruptive physical symptoms can also worsen your anxiety, creating a cycle.

Treating one or both parts of the cycle can help you find relief. Therapy and medications for anxiety can relieve gastrointestinal symptoms, and treatment for gastrointestinal symptoms can relieve anxiety. Treatment targeted at both may be most effective for you.

If you’re feeling nauseous before a presentation or other anxiety-inducing event, you can practice coping skills to soothe stress. Deep, mindful breathing can calm your nervous system. You can try box breathing, where you breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 4 seconds, and breathe out through your mouth for 4 seconds, then start again from the top. Physical activity and healthy distractions (like reading, cooking, or watching a show you enjoy) can help, too.

Sleep Disturbances

The hyperarousal state caused by anxiety can make it hard to fall asleep9 and stay asleep. Your brain may wake you up more often if it’s used to feeling under threat, especially if you’re having nightmares that trigger the stress response. Anxiety can also trigger nightmares; for example, a parent may have persistent nightmares of losing a child. 

You may compulsively worry about what happened during your day, replay interactions, or start mentally preparing for tomorrow’s threats as you try to fall asleep. Worrying about what happened and what could happen can trigger your stress response and bar your brain from the relaxed state it needs to sleep. 

Those diagnosed with sleep conditions like insomnia could find their anxiety improves once they get insomnia treatment9, and vice versa. Treatment for insomnia depends on which kind you have (trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both), but often includes therapy and medications. Short-term hypnotics, certain antidepressants, and benzodiazepines can calm the mind and allow sleep.

Muscular Tension and Pain

The stress response causes your muscles to tense2 and prepare to fight or flee. If your anxiety often activates this response, you can experience muscle pain from the prolonged tension. This could also lead to skeletal conditions like low back pain and make pre-existing osteoarthritis more painful. Anxiety can lower your ability to tolerate pain10 and make other musculoskeletal conditions more painful as well. 

Relaxation techniques can help relieve tension and pain. Try progressive muscle relaxation, where you’ll mindfully tense and untense your muscles (head to toes, toes to head, or another pattern.) You can also apply topical remedies to relieve pain.

Respiratory System

The stress responses speeds up breathing to ensure your cardiovascular system has enough oxygen to react to threats. You may experience shortness of breath when anxiety triggers this response11 without a threat to run from or fight. Feeling like you can’t breathe or aren’t getting enough air can intensify your anxiety and create a self-feeding cycle. 

Sometimes, this can worsen to a panic attack, which may cause you to hyperventilate or hold your breath. Both of these can cause someone to pass out (or feel close to it). 

Feeling constantly short of breath or like you’re just barely getting enough air could be a sign of anxiety. Practice deep breaths, filling and expanding your stomach, and bring your concerns to your doctor.

Hormonal Imbalance

Anxiety can interfere with hormone production and release12, which can lead to thyroid problems and menstrual irregularities. This can even extend to reproductive issues. Stress and anxiety can cause endocrine disorders when they go untreated. 

Anxiety treatment can alleviate the disruptions in your endocrine system and restore it to health. Treatment options for anxiety include therapy, medications, and a combination of the two.

Seeking Professional Help

If you notice physical or emotional symptoms of anxiety, you can start your treatment journey by scheduling an appointment with your doctor. They will help you determine the cause of your symptoms and rule out other potential conditions. They may also refer you to therapy and prescribe an anxiety medication. At your appointment, you can ask questions like these to better understand your condition and treatment:

  1. Do I meet diagnostic criteria for anxiety?
  2. Should I be on medications for my symptoms? If so, what are the potential side effects?
  3. What are my next steps in treatment?
  4. Can you refer me to therapy or a different level of care?

Behavioral therapies for anxiety aim to change unhelpful thought patterns and challenge the compulsion to worry. Cognitive behavioral therapy, for example, invites you to notice the thoughts and emotions behind your behaviors and question their validity. Dialectical behavioral therapy encourages you to notice and accept your emotions while also aiming to adjust how you respond. 

Exposure therapies can reduce anxiety around places or situations that trigger anxiety. You may imagine the exposure or go out and experience it. For example, you may take small drives to reduce anxiety around driving, especially if you’ve been in a car accident. Your therapist will be careful to not retraumatize you or suggest anything you don’t feel able to do, but you’ll likely venture outside your comfort zone with their support.

Lifestyle Changes for Anxiety Management

Lifestyle changes can have a huge impact on your overall wellness and anxiety levels, especially when combined with professional treatment. You can try any combination or number of changes to see what works best. 

Strengthen Your Sleep Hygiene 

Good sleep can help you feel more rested and capable of handling challenges. The amount you need varies by person, but you can shoot for 6-8 hours. Set up a nighttime and morning routine to align your circadian rhythm and ease anxiety about falling asleep and waking up. 

Set Boundaries at Home and at Work

Setting emotional boundaries can shield you from additional stress and anxiety. For example, if interactions with a family member cause you anxiety, set a boundary. You could do this by limiting the time you spend with them, how often you text them back, and by what information you share with them. You can verbalize your boundary or let your actions express it.

At work, you can clearly communicate your working hours and set an expectation to work within them closely. Creating a healthy work-life balance can lower anxiety and give you more time to pursue activities you enjoy. 

Eat Well

Healthy eating allows you to function at your full capacity, which can help you manage stress and anxiety. Prioritize whole foods with nutrients and vitamins. As much as you can, avoid processed foods, fast food, and sugar. Sugar rushes can feel like panic attacks13, so limit how much you have. Similarly, excess caffeine can cause a spike in adrenaline, heart rate, and make you feel panicky.  

Make sure you’re drinking enough water, too. Dehydration can sometimes cause or mimic anxiety symptoms13; sip on water throughout the day and shoot to drink an ounce for every 2 pounds of your body weight. Someone who weighs 150 lbs would drink 75 ounces of water following that suggestion.

Exercise

Exercise can help relieve stress and make you feel good (thanks to endorphins). Gentle and intense exercise offers these benefits. You could go on walks, try yoga, or weightlift. Exercise can lower stress levels and help you relax. Align your exercise with your lifestyle and ensure it’s something you enjoy.

Meditation

Meditation can reduce anxiety symptoms14. Many phone apps offer free guided meditation sessions you can attend anytime. You can also meditate with binaural beats, other music you like, or no music at all. 

Meditation can help align your mind and body in a state of calmness. It’s often described as a spiritual experience; you could also use prayer as a form of meditation.

Resources and Hope for Healing

Anxiety has multiple effects on the body and multiple avenues for recovery. Talk with your doctor or mental health provider today to assess your symptoms and seek treatment. 
You can also browse Recovery.com to find treatment centers for anxiety with photos, reviews, pricing information, and more.

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What Causes Depression?

Multiple causes and factors contribute to depression. It can vary between two siblings, and certainly between people all over the world. As clinicians and the general public gradually become more and more aware of what causes depression, more identified causes have come to light—as have treatments. 

Depression is characterized by feelings of low mood, hopelessness, and sadness1 affecting your daily life for 2+ weeks. Some people experience severe symptoms, like suicidality, while others may experience persistent but low-level symptoms. Some types of depression correlate with the seasons. It’s always best to seek a diagnosis from your doctor to determine the type of depression.

Arguably, there’s a treatment solution for every type and cause of depression. Whether it’s caused by genetics, environment, situations, or anything else, you have resources to heal. 

Is Depression Caused by Chemical Imbalance?

Sometimes, yes. An imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain can poorly affect your mood2 and cause clinical depression. But, this popular “cause” of depression is becoming less and less validated. 

Harvard Medical School2, for example, says, “…depression doesn’t spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events.”

Chemicals and neurotransmitters are part of the picture, but not nearly all of it. For example, antidepressant medications raise neurotransmitter levels immediately2, but it takes weeks to see results. This suggests the issue goes much deeper than an imbalance; instead, research finds new nerve connections must form2 and strengthen in the brain to bring relief. 

What Is the Leading Cause of Depression?

Everyone reacts differently to life events, adversity, and abuse. Similarly, everyone has their own unique levels of neurotransmitters and nerve connections in the brain. That’s why a leading cause of depression can’t be identified. 

Some events and predispositions can better predict the onset or likelihood of depression. For example, 80% of those who experienced a major negative life event developed an episode of major depression3. A negative life event could include abuse, loss of a loved one, job loss, and homelessness. 

Pregnancy can cause postnatal depression3, due to a sudden change in hormones, stress, and sleep deprivation after birth. Between 10-20% of new mothers develop depression. Like trauma and abuse, pregnancy can make the likelihood of depression higher, but not guarantee its development.

Causes of Depression

The causes of depression can exist independently or overlap. For example, someone with depression may be genetically predisposed to it and experience abuse. The causes will vary for each person. Some people will also experience the causes but not develop depression. 

Family History/Genetics

Depression runs in families4. Children with a depressed parent are 1.5-3% more likely to develop depression than other populations. Bipolar depression has particularly high chances of affecting immediate family members. Identical twins, for example, are 60-80% likely to share their diagnosis of bipolar with the other.  

Several genes affect how we respond to stress4, which can increase or decrease the likelihood of developing depression. Genes turn off and on to help you adapt to life, but they don’t always adapt helpfully. They can change your biology enough to lower your mood and cause depression, even if it doesn’t run in your family.

Medication

Depression and medical illnesses commonly co-occur5, which led researchers to wonder if medications could cause depression (unrelated to the distress of medical conditions). They found that to be the case in some situations.

Several medications 5 were found to potentially cause depressive symptoms and clinical depression. Medications can also cause symptoms like fatigue, sleepiness, or low appetite, which can progress into depression. 

Abuse

Physical, psychological, and sexual abuse can cause depression6. Abuse can change how you see yourself and the world around you, which can lead to feelings of sadness, low self-worth, and hopelessness. Those feelings can then contribute to, or solely cause, depression.

Victims of abuse may also isolate themselves and shut down, which can make depression more likely to develop. Emotional abuse and childhood abuse tend to correlate strongly with adult depression6. Largely, any kind of abuse makes the development of depression more likely. 

Illness

Depression is more common in those with physical illnesses7 like diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and other chronic conditions. Feeling hopeless, unwell, and discouraged because of a health condition contributes to depression developing. Short-term illness, like being hospitalized and immobile after an accident, can also cause an episode of depression. Those with chronic illnesses may experience more frequent and long-lasting depressive episodes. 

Depression can reduce normal functioning, and even life expectancy7, in those with co-occurring physical illnesses. Treatment for depression can improve symptoms of physical ailments, too.

Drugs and Alcohol

Drugs and alcohol can cause physical and emotional symptoms that lead to depression8. For example, feeling dependent on a substance may cause discouragement and hopelessness, which can then progress into depression. Plus, coming down from a substance-induced high mood can make low moods even more profound. Losing relationships due to challenges with drugs and alcohol can erode support systems and lead to isolation. Sickness and ongoing effects of substance use can make you feel physically ill, which also connects to depression.

Effective treatment for substance use and depression addresses each disorder with the proper approach.

Death Or A Loss

Grief can be a powerful catalyst. The loss of a loved one, sudden or not, can cause low mood, hopelessness, and intense emotional pain. Though healthy grief cycles do include pain and depression, these emotions can become severe9 and interfere with your ability to function. 

Sometimes, those in grief need professional help to navigate the loss and feelings associated with it. This is especially true for anyone with thoughts of suicide or experiencing severe loss of function (can’t get up in the morning, can’t work, can’t eat).

Can You Develop Depression?

Anyone can develop depression. It’s most common in young adults10, but anyone of any age, sex, and race can become clinically depressed. You don’t need a history of depression, nor get depression by a certain age, to develop it. 

Depression can come on suddenly, or as a gradual build-up of symptoms. For example, the loss of a loved one could spur a quick onset of depression. On the other hand, stress and anxiety can more slowly progress into depression. In these cases, depression isn’t always noticeable until it’s glaring.  

Sometimes, catching stress, grief, and anxiety early-on can prevent them from progressing or contributing to depression. Other times, situations completely beyond your control can contribute to and cause depression. Examples include genetics, hormones, and simply how your unique brain works.  

Find Additional Help for Depression

Navigating clinical depression isn’t something you have to do on your own. You can begin your journey by talking with your primary care provider, who can refer you to 1:1 and group therapy. They may also prescribe antidepressants to work in tandem with therapy. 

Your therapist may use therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to improve unhealthy thought patterns. You may also try dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), which focuses more on managing emotions and thoughts in a healthy, productive way. 


You can also attend a treatment program for depression. Browse our collection of depression treatment centers to find a facility that fits your needs—see what insurance they accept, reviews, photos, and more.

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Internal Family Systems Therapy and Legacy Burdens

Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a relatively recent therapeutic approach developed by Richard Schwartz. It describes the psyche as having multiple parts with a centralized Self—or, your core essence. Within the Self are Parts, each with its own unique characteristics, emotions, and motivations. These Parts can be in conflict with each other, leading to inner turmoil and psychological distress.

Dr. Schwartz created IFS to identify Parts of the self1 and change how those Parts interact; it’s used in interpersonal psychotherapy and in group settings. Healing damaged Parts and addressing self-protectors can identify trauma, legacy burdens, and deep pains. Then, the client and therapist work together to soothe the Parts and create a sense of safety that allows clients to heal their parts on their own. 

IFS and other forms of therapy can also address deep-seeded legacy burdens, which are conscious or subconscious burdens from generational trauma, family legacies, and family expectations that affect your life.

What Is Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)?

IFS therapy offers a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the complexities of the human psyche, both at an individual and systemic level.

IFS is based on the idea that each person’s mind is made of “Parts”2 that form around a traumatic experience. The Parts compensate for trauma and strive to protect Exiles, which are the isolated Parts carrying hurt and trauma. 

Managers and Firefighters, the other 2 Parts, both work to keep Exiles hidden and safe. 

Your Firefighter Part is responsible for behaviors like drinking, drug use, and self-harm. These behaviors arise to control the Exiles’ feelings (terror, rage, grief, fear). Manager Parts find control through carefully evaluating situations, caretaking, and controlling. By staying in control, Managers think they can protect you from further pain and rejection.

Healing The Parts in IFS

In IFS, you’ll learn to hold space for the vulnerable Parts and meet them with compassion, a core part of the Self. IFS therapy helps you create a safe internal environment to confront your protective and vulnerable Parts and engage your compassionate Self. This safe internal environment can help you process traumatic memories and release legacy burdens without retraumatization.

IFS also connects your mind and body to increase mindfulness. You’ll become more aware of what you’re feeling and why, and where it may hold itself in your body. 

Ultimately, IFS draws on “the inherent wisdom of the Self2” to rework cognitive distortions from childhood trauma, legacy burdens, and negative views of self. It’s done compassionately and without judgment, allowing the Parts to accept healing and back away from their maladaptive coping strategies. 

Therapists are trained to provide IFS therapy. Not all therapists will offer IFS, and some will be more experienced than others. Check with your provider to see if they’re trained in IFS and their level of experience. 

IFS for Trauma and PTSD

IFS can help those with trauma and PTSD become “compassionate witnesses”2 to their traumatic experiences without feeling overwhelmed or retraumatized. Patients use mindfulness to separate from the emotions, sensations, and images of their trauma. That mindful separation can strengthen their ability to reflect on their experiences as caring, compassionate observers. 

For example, a patient may have residual shame after childhood abuse. IFS would help them step away from the shame, address the Part responsible for it, and allow their Self to replace the shame with self-compassion. Releasing the shame and allowing self-compassion can then reduce the hold of the traumatic experience and help the patient step into the present (and feel safe doing it).

Legacy Burdens: What They Are and Their Effects

A legacy burden leaves an imprint on future generations’ worldview and wellness. It can stem from one person or exist across a generation of people groups as generational trauma. 

A single-person legacy burden could be caused by a belief carried down. For example, one of your grandparents or a parent may impose a belief on you and others in your family. The belief could be that you need to earn a lot of money, stay in a particular religion, or have a specific relationship. Even if you don’t necessarily believe their beliefs, the internal burden of their beliefs and expectations can still affect you.

Generational Trauma and Legacy Burdens

Generational trauma also leaves a legacy burden3. Indigenous and marginalized groups often carry trauma from generations of gentrification, colonialism, and brutality. 

Stress and trauma can pass between generations through genetic changes3. Environmental stress can molecularly affect how a parent’s genes function, which then pass down to their child. Parents may also recreate their trauma and traumatize their children in turn. Generational trauma can pass down through a combination of the 2 as well. 

The generations who didn’t experience the trauma firsthand may still experience the residual effects through their parents. Distant parenting, witnessing parents suffer from trauma, and avoiding the topic can strain relationships and create unhealthy attachment patterns. Some also feel the need to hold onto the trauma to honor those who directly went through it and bring awareness.

Interestingly, positive change commonly occurs in the third generation3. Grandparents, for example, may be more willing to share their experience with their grandchildren. It could be because enough time has passed, and because the third generation is more likely to seek growth and healing. This, in turn, can help the first and second generations heal. 

Generational trauma can also create resiliency. Some children may see the burden carried in their lineage and actively pursue healing for themselves and others—which can turn into a sort of legacy burden itself. But, having a legacy burden doesn’t automatically entail generations of suffering. Individuals and groups can end the cycle, sometimes through IFS therapy.

IFS as a Healing Tool for Legacy Burdens

IFS can address the Parts carrying legacy burdens, allowing the Self to heal and prevent the trauma from extending. For some, their Exile may need healing. Others may need to heal a Firefighter or Manager to learn new coping tools.

Once the Part with the legacy burden feels safe and heard, the Self can bring in compassion and perspective, allowing you to detach from the burden. Continued IFS sessions and homework from your IFS therapist can help you maintain this release and continue forward. 

Your legacy burden may surprise you once you identify it, or it could be an obvious burden carried through your family (like alcoholism or racism). In either case, IFS and other therapies can help you identify the burden and use your natural capabilities to heal.

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Mind Control and Complex Trauma

Children, young adults, and adults can suffer mind control and complex trauma. Mind control can also be a broad phenomenon experienced by people groups, organizations, and countries. Other times, it can be used as a directed form of psychological abuse. 

Complex trauma is the cumulation of “multiple interpersonal threats”1 or abuse during childhood. It may come as the result of mind control or other abuses. Dr. Karol Darsa—psychologist, author, and creator of RITTM (Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Model)—offers insight into healing.

Understanding Mind Control

Mind control compromises a person or group2’s freedom of choice by altering their perception, motivations, and behavior. Some mind control techniques aren’t done maliciously; for example, most advertising involves pushing emotions for a desired outcome (buying their product). 

Malicious mind control aims to control another person (or group) through fear, deprivation, and confusion. For example, research found people in controlled environments with sensory stimulation removed (like visuals, smells, sounds, and other sensations) moved into a malleable emotional state. The process worked by only allowing select information to the sensory-deprived person. In that state, new ideas or beliefs could be implanted and believed3. 

As an example, the only stimulation provided to someone could be a repeated fact of any sort. With nothing else to occupy or influence their thoughts, it can be easier to believe and act upon whatever information is provided. 

Similar emotional states could be achieved through abuse and trauma, where stress and abuse return the brain to its primal, animalistic survival functions. In its worn-down state, the victim’s brain could accept and believe almost anything about themselves or the world around them. 

Mind control as a form of abuse could lead to complex trauma and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD), especially if it occurs in childhood. 

An adult with c-PTSD caused by mind control may struggle to trust others, themselves, and their reality. Sometimes, they may not even know why they don’t trust; just that they don’t. 

Complex Trauma and Its Prolonged Impact

C-PTSD usually occurs due to childhood trauma. Complex trauma can have more severe consequences2 than non-complex trauma. It can also cause the onset of depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorder, and dissociative identity disorder (DID). 

C-PTSD can have more long-lasting effects2 because it occurs after repeated, inescapable traumatic events. It’s more common to experience in childhood, but it can happen at any time of your life. PTSD, in comparison, occurs as a single instance (like a rape, tornado, or car accident). Staying in activated stress states and experiencing them often, especially in childhood, can cause the more severe psychopathy and cognitive deficits associated with c-PTSD. 

That means that children with c-PTSD are more likely to grow into adults with major depressive disorder, anxiety, psychotic symptoms, and addiction. Children with c-PTSD were also found to have lower IQ scores2 and poorer executive function as adults. 

Psychopathy4, lower IQ scores, and poor executive functioning can have prolonged effects in adulthood. When caused by c-PTSD, these effects occur independent of other variables like genetic disposition, motivation, and effort.

Recognizing Signs of Mind Control and Complex Trauma

You or someone else could be experiencing mind control if you recognize these tactics:

  • A person or group uses terror, threats, and manipulation to mold the brain into its more primal survival mode. Escape feels impossible, either physically, mentally, or socially.
  • You or someone else believes the perpetrator and whatever truths they tell about you, someone else, or the world.
  • You comply with their wishes and demands to survive. You’ll believe or do anything they ask out of forced trust and the need to survive. In a state of survival, your brain struggles to process information logically, which is why you may continually trust and believe the perpetrator. Doing what they say often feels like the only way to stay safe.  

Complex trauma has several distinct signs5, too. 

  • Re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks
  • Dissociation
  • Interpersonal challenges with relationships
  • Self-destructive behaviors (like substance use)
  • Irritability and hyperarousal, or emotional numbness
  • Social withdrawal
  • Hostility 

You may notice these signs in yourself or someone else as a child, young adult, or adult who’s experiencing c-PTSD.

Karol Darsa’s Treatment for Trauma and c-PTSD

Trauma psychologist Karol Darsa created the Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Model (RITTM)6 to treat trauma. RITTM is comprehensive and body-based, which means it’s designed to heal and reconnect the mind and body. 

RITTM integrates eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, brainspotting, somatic experiencing, gestalt therapy, energy psychology, and mindfulness. The result is a whole-person approach to treatment that can help adults with c-PTSD heal their trauma and the conditions associated with it. 

RITTM occurs in individual settings and stresses a positive therapeutic alliance. Rather than following strict protocols and regimes, RITTM can flex to individual needs and types of trauma. It’s been found to help with single-event and complex trauma. 

Dr. Darsa’s 20 years of experience led her to write a guide on trauma healing, found a treatment center, and educate other professionals on trauma healing. She’s been featured as an expert on ABC, CBS, and more. She also lectures on trauma at universities like UCLA, Cal Lutheran, and the University of Southern California. 

Other Therapies for Trauma and c-PTSD

Other forms of trauma treatment may fit your needs. Some aspects of RITTM may suit you better if they’re pulled out and focused.

EMDR can help reduce your reaction to traumatic memories7 by using eye tracking as you recall your trauma. Doing both at the same time can desensitize you to the effects of the memories and help you process your trauma. 

Prolonged exposure therapy (PET)8 exposes you to an imagined scenario of your trauma or to real-life stimuli associated with it. Doing so can help reduce reactions to the experience and help you process and heal. PET may be too triggering for some; your treatment team can help you decide if this may work for you.

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)9 uses CBT to specifically focus on trauma. It can be especially helpful for children and their families. TF-CBT aims to reduce shame, guilt, and thought distortions related to trauma by identifying inaccurate beliefs and developing adaptive responses to trauma. Practitioners gradually expose patients to reminders and places to reduce their distress and reactions to trauma. 

Many other trauma therapies can help you recover from complex trauma and mind control. Your doctor, therapist, or psychologist can help you find the best fit for your needs. 

Finding Help for You or a Loved One

Attending a rehab for trauma, setting up therapy sessions, and actively pursuing healing can help you or a loved one heal from complex trauma and mind control.
Rehab provides a residential setting to focus on treatment and healing. There, you can experience EMDR therapy, Karol Darsa’s RITTM therapy, and other trauma therapies uniquely designed for healing.

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What Is Complex Trauma?: Causes, Signs, and Treatment

Complex trauma, sometimes called complex post-traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD), is caused by prolonged exposure to traumatic events and has subsequent effects on psychosocial functioning and neurodevelopment. It differs from PTSD, which is typically associated with a singular traumatic event. Complex trauma accumulates over time with repeated activation of the stress response during sensitive developmental periods1, creating a web of emotional and psychological challenges. 

Usually, but not always, complex trauma forms in childhood. Professionals defined adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as a set of potentially traumatic events that can happen during childhood2 and are linked to negative long-term health and well-being. The more ACEs a child has, the more likely they are to develop complex trauma. ACEs can negatively impact education and job opportunities and are associated with chronic health problems, mental health disorders, and substance use problems. 

However, complex trauma can form in any stage of life through various circumstances.

Causes of Complex Trauma

Complex trauma comes in many shapes and forms, as it can develop during any sensitive time period, especially for vulnerable populations. 

Childhood abuse: Complex trauma often stems from childhood abuse or neglect, including physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. This abuse can be caused by family or caregivers, disrupting a child’s sense of safety, attachment, and self-worth.

Domestic violence: Long-term exposure to domestic violence, where one partner emotionally, physically, or sexually abuses the other, can lead to complex trauma. Children who witness domestic violence within their family may also experience this form of trauma.

War and conflict: People living in areas affected by ongoing conflict and violence can develop complex trauma. This includes combat trauma, displacement, and loss of loved ones.

Human trafficking: Victims of human trafficking, whether for sexual exploitation or forced labor, endure captivity, manipulation, and violence, contributing to complex trauma.

Institutionalized abuse: Incarceration in prisons or detention centers with violence, isolation, and harsh conditions can cause complex trauma. Additionally, people who have been involved in cults or religious sects that use manipulation and emotional abuse can experience this type of trauma.

Chronic medical trauma: People with chronic or life-threatening medical conditions who undergo multiple surgeries, treatments, or hospitalizations may experience complex trauma from the ongoing stress and pain associated with their illness.

Symptoms and Effects

Complex trauma can significantly impact psychological and emotional well-being. Often, it can mirror or result in the onset of other mental health conditions3 such as PTSD, eating disorders, and personality disorders like borderline personality disorder. People with complex trauma are also more likely to turn to drugs or alcohol4 to self-medicate and cope with emotional pain.

In addition to mental health disorder symptoms, someone with complex trauma can have self-regulatory disturbances3, which can manifest as difficulties in emotion regulation and impulsivity. Complex trauma patients may also experience intrusive thoughts and dissociation, which is a disconnection from one’s thoughts, feelings, or surroundings. Physically, it can cause insomnia, gastrointestinal issues, headaches, and cardiovascular problems from the prolonged stress5. 

Long-term, complex trauma can greatly hinder a person’s ability to trust and form close relationships because a lack of safety leads to hypervigilance to potential threats. They may experience challenges developing healthy and secure attachment patterns. Someone with complex trauma may also have low self-esteem and intense shame or guilt. 

Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-informed care6 is an all-encompassing approach to providing services and support that accounts for the unique experiences of people with complex trauma history. Healthcare professionals take patients’ past traumatic events into consideration when asking questions, creating a treatment plan, and executing therapies. It creates an environment that is sensitive to the needs of those who have experienced trauma and aims to promote trust and empowerment. This helps the patient feel safe and supported throughout their recovery.

Trauma-informed care aims to avoid retraumatization during recovery, which is key for complex trauma patients. To achieve this, healthcare providers will conduct an evaluation to screen for trauma history. Then, they can appropriately care for your needs though enforcing safety during treatment, avoiding triggering situations, and practicing crisis intervention. A cornerstone in treatment will also be trauma-informed therapy.

Trauma-Informed Care Principles

Trauma-informed care is based on several key principles7, as defined by The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Providers should strive to incorporate these ideas into their practices. 

First, it emphasizes that trauma is prevalent, and many people seeking treatment have experienced trauma. This recognition helps create a non-judgmental environment for patients to share their experiences without retraumatization.

This approach emphasizes the importance of trustworthiness and transparency between patients and providers. It involves building trust through clear communication, consistency, and reliability.

Trauma-informed care is based on a holistic understanding of traumatic experiences. Physical, mental, and emotional well-being are interconnected, so it takes into account the patient’s unique strengths, needs, and cultural background.

Trauma-informed care highlights collaboration and empowerment by actively involving patients in the decision-making process and providing them with opportunities for autonomy. This approach helps to restore a sense of control that may have been lost due to trauma.

Therapeutic Approaches for Complex Trauma

Recovering from complex trauma often requires talk therapy. These therapies allow you to practice emotional regulation and learn coping skills.

Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based therapy designed to help patients process and manage the impact of trauma. It focuses on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and managing uncomfortable emotions. This approach often includes techniques like exposure therapy, cognitive restructuring, and stress management.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a specialized therapy for trauma. It incorporates bilateral stimulation, such as rapid eye movements or taps, to help patients process and integrate traumatic experiences, reducing their emotional charge.

Many trauma-informed programs also integrate holistic and experiential therapies. Somatic experiencing emphasizes the mind-body connection in trauma and releases related physical tension and stress responses. You will also likely practice mindfulness techniques to develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and stress reduction.

Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth

Complex trauma could potentially lead to personal growth and positive changes8, also called post-traumatic growth (PTG). You may even look at the positive consequences in parallel with the negative, as opposed to its own separate island. 

PTG doesn’t deny the pain and challenges of complex trauma but acknowledges that growth can occur alongside suffering. Through professional and personal healing, you can discover a sunnier outlook on life, leading to increased resilience, confidence, and improved relationships. It’s a testament to your strength and the capacity for positive change, even in the aftermath of severe adversity.

So, how can you achieve PTG?—By making your healing a priority. Reach out for help from mental health professionals and trusted friends and family. Attend therapies that fit your needs, and openly communicate about your experiences. Work on developing healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and emotional distress. And take time to do some deep self-reflection. Evaluate what’s truly important to you and your path to move forward by writing down recovery goals. 

Support and Resources

To find a trauma-informed provider, ask your primary care physician for referrals. They can guide you to a specialized professional or clinic that can address your specific needs. Look for professionals with relevant credentials and specializations, such as Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs), Psychologists (Ph.D. or Psy.D.), or Psychiatrists (MD). Additionally, check if they have certifications or training in trauma-focused therapies like eye movement therapy or trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy.

After an evaluation, talk through your treatment options. Consider asking questions such as:

  1. Are there specific trauma-focused therapies you recommend?
  2. What qualifications should my treatment providers have?
  3. How can I actively participate in treatment and advocate for my needs throughout the process?
  4. Where can I reach out for support in case of a crisis?
  5. Are there coping skills I can practice outside of therapy? 
  6. Do you recommend any medications to manage my symptoms? 
  7. Do you recommend family therapy or couples therapy if complex trauma has affected my relationships?

Peer support can allow you to share experiences, learn coping strategies, and connect with others who have faced similar challenges. CPTSD Community Safe Group9 offers private online support groups and resources to those in recovery. There may also be in person support groups in your area, and you can find those by asking your primary care physician.
For assistance finding a provider near you, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357)10, or text your zip code to 435748.

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What Is Post-Traumatic Growth?

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a positive and ongoing inner change after trauma or a highly distressing situation. PTG can occur simultaneously with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One does not negate or invalidate the other.

PTG can positively change your outlook on life and place you on a more bright, resilient path. This offers hope to those who may feel discouraged by what they’ve gone through and how it affects their place in the world. 

Stages of Post-Traumatic Growth

You likely won’t feel positive changes immediately after a traumatic event. Most who do recognize PTG notice it after they’ve put space between their trauma1 and had some time to heal, which is part of the 5 stages of PTG. 

  1. Crisis or Trauma

A singular traumatic event or recurrent trauma prime you for post-traumatic growth. Though the experience will likely cause distress, it’s a necessary aspect of PTG. 

A variety of traumas can eventually connect to PTG. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines trauma as2

  • Physical or emotional harm
  • Any threat to your life

Traumatic situations will impact your mental, physical, and emotional health. A non-exclusive list of trauma examples include

  1. Growth Awareness

Reflecting on how you’ve changed since your trauma can prompt post-traumatic growth. You may not gravitate towards reflection naturally, especially if your memories still cause pain. A therapist, spouse, or friend may notice it first. 

You may sit on this awareness for days, weeks, or months. Even if you don’t act on the awareness right away, realizing you’ve grown from something terrible can offer encouragement and hope.

  1. Growth Exploration

Next, you can see where you’ve grown. You may identify your growth by yourself, with a therapist, or a loved one. You can take a deeper look at the areas you’ve grown in and find encouragement from the positive changes.

For example, you may notice you’ve become more sure of yourself and your identity1. Or, you may notice you have a greater appreciation for your life and your loved ones. You may also be more aware of what you want out of life. 

  1. Developing New Beliefs

Your trauma may have left you with negative beliefs about yourself and the world. As you heal, your beliefs may change—maybe without you noticing. When you become aware of your growth and explore it, you can also see what beliefs align with your new growth. 

For example, you may believe you’re more equipped to handle hardships because you’ve survived one and grown. This can reinforce your self-efficacy. 

  1. Integration of Growth

Once you’ve become aware of your growth, explored it, and developed new beliefs based upon it, you can then integrate your growth into your daily life. Your growth may make you more confident, more empathetic, and more resilient. Those qualities may direct you to a new line of work, a volunteering opportunity, or creative outlet.

You may feel drawn to supporting others. With your strengths and insights, you could help others in similar situations and inspire hope. While that’s in no way a requirement, some trauma survivors feel highly fulfilled doing so.  

Signs of Post-Traumatic Growth

You can look for the signs of PTG3 in yourself and those you love.

Valuing Life More Than Before

Getting through a crisis or traumatic experience can make you value the life you have, especially if your trauma was life-threatening. Or, you may simply feel grateful for positive experiences after enduring such negativity. 

For example, if you survived a car crash, you may feel more thankful for your life and what you can make of it. 

Easier to Relate to Others

Trauma survivors sometimes develop a “sixth-sense”, where they become more attuned to the emotions and behaviors of others. Their experiences can help them relate to others4 and develop a strong sense of empathy. 

A Change in Priorities

A change in priorities is a strong sign of post-traumatic growth4. For example, you may unwaveringly prioritize family time after a traumatic event. 

In another example, a traumatic experience may awaken you to your true passions. Perhaps you suddenly realize your corporate job can’t compare to the fulfillment of painting. As you experience PTG, you may pursue a painting career to prioritize fulfillment. 

Increased Self-Confidence

Post-traumatic growth typically involves an increase in your personal strength1 and self-confidence. Those with PTG are more confident in their abilities to overcome challenges and make difficult decisions. 

Approaches Promoting Post Traumatic Growth

Several approaches to healing promote PTG. While interpersonal factors and characteristics of the trauma influence PTG5 too, the ways you heal play a large role in PTG. The following approaches are just a few that can promote PTG.

EMDR Therapy

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy helps trauma survivors safely process trauma. Processing the trauma can lead to quicker healing and a shorter path to post-traumatic growth.    

In an EMDR session, your therapist will have you track an object back and forth as you quietly or verbally recall traumatic memories. Eye movement helps you focus on something other than the strong emotions associated with the memories and process the trauma faster.

Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT)

CBCT is “a trauma-focused conjoint therapy1 that has a session specifically devoted to PTG.” Therapists use it to treat PTSD and trauma, though it can also improve depressive and anxious symptoms.

CBCT, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), addresses thoughts and behaviors with a focus on trauma symptoms6 (numbing, avoidance). 

CBCT can help you cope with the cognitive and emotional effects of trauma and promote the growth associated with PTG.

Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy

PE works by exposing you to memories or other stimuli7 that “cognitively restructures beliefs about [your] sense of safety”, especially if and when you encounter the trauma again outside a therapeutic environment. 

You may imagine the stimulus or confront it in the real world, sometimes as a “homework assignment” after therapy. Therapists tailor the type and amount of exposure to avoid distress and facilitate healing.

As you become desensitized to the stimuli and more confident in your safety, your PTG can blossom. 

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

CPT addresses trauma and helps patients reconstruct beliefs7 about themselves, others, and the world. It encourages reflection on positive changes since starting treatment.

Doing so, you can change your internal narrative and stimulate PTG.

Challenges And Obstacles in Achieving Post-Traumatic Growth

Negative emotions after trauma (shame, guilt, depression) can hinder PTG3. These emotions can prevent someone from seeking treatment, as they may feel addressing their trauma is too painful. 

Fear, avoidance, and hypersensitivity–all symptoms of PTSD–can make treatment seem daunting as well. Negative feedback from friends and family can also hinder treatment and PTG.

Participants in one study said PTG began once they had an internal need for change3. Until that need is realized, PTG may not begin and may never take effect. 

Feeling forced or expected to have positive growth after a terrible event can add undue pressure8 and hinder PTG. 

Overcoming Obstacles to PTG

Support from friends and family and professional help from a mental health professional can help you overcome obstacles to PTG3. They can help you see a need for change by looking through their eyes and seeing your situation from another perspective. 

You can also reflect on your present life and how you would like to grow. This can encourage ambition and a strong desire for change that ends with PTG.

PTG can also be presented as a positive, but optional, aspect of trauma healing—not something that must happen. Rather than expecting PTG, providers and patients can instead be aware of it and accept it if it comes. 

Post-Traumatic Growth Examples

PTG will look different for each person, but a few examples include

  • Changing jobs to pursue a dream or passion. 
  • Taking time off work to travel and pursue new experiences. 
  • Committing to charity work.
  • Helping others who’ve experienced trauma similar to yours, perhaps by becoming a speaker or through contributions to studies and articles. 
  • Fostering stronger relationships with family and loved ones. Parents may feel an especially strong desire to grow closer to their children.
  • Deepening your faith in God or becoming more spiritual, even if you’re not part of an organized religion.
  • Leaning into your creative side and feeling deep fulfillment. You may enjoy forms of art, writing music, or crafting stories.

Find Help For Trauma

Trauma changes those who experience it. Sometimes, the changes can be positive. Even so, trauma can be a heavy weight to hold. Professional treatment can help you manage its effects and facilitate post-traumatic growth. 
Rehabs for trauma provide intensive care and support for your recovery. Browse our list of trauma rehabs to learn about their approaches to trauma treatment, see photos, and verify your insurance.