Treating PTSD with Ibogaine
Originally posted August 19, 2018
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects some 3 million Americans each year and is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly or ignored. For people who have experienced traumatic events, PTSD often becomes a natural byproduct of what they’ve gone through. PTSD can happen to anyone and occurs after a person has lived through a traumatic event. Experiencing a natural disaster, the unanticipated death of a loved one, a terrorist attack (think 911), rape, a significant accident, war, or any other threatening event can insight feelings of extreme stress and lead to PTSD. It’s very common for soldiers involved in active combat to develop PTSD, with veterans of many different wars who have been diagnosed with PTSD and are still suffering to this day. While woman are twice as likely to develop PTSD, it can affect anyone regardless of gender or age. And while experiencing something traumatic doesn’t cause distress in everyone, there are those who have trouble moving past what has happened to them. PTSD can cause severe anxiety and depression and for some is a truly debilitating condition.
Symptoms of PTSD Although symptoms might not develop for months or even years after a traumatic event takes place, many that suffer from PTSD develop symptoms quickly after something terrible has happened and are usually diagnosed after experiencing symptoms for more than a month after the event takes place. These symptoms include:
Reliving the Experience Over and Over Again
This can come in the form of memories, flashbacks, and nightmares. Oftentimes thoughts of the event tend to become invasive in a person’s mind, causing anxiety, panic, depression, and more.
Emotional Detachment and Avoidance
People with PTSD will often become emotionally numb to the events that have taken place. They also may avoid people, places and feelings associated with the event that has led to their current condition.
Increased Personal Difficulties
Those who suffer from PTSD often have trouble concentrating and keeping focused on what they’re doing in the moment. They may also have trouble sleeping, become easily irritated, experience anger issues, and become jumpy and uptight. According to the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) for someone to be diagnosed with PTSD, they must meet the following criteria for at least one month:
At least one “reliving” experience
At least one avoidance or detachment experience
At least one personal difficulty
At least one mood symptom (guilt, negative feelings, etc.)
In serious cases, PTSD can become debilitating and cause one to lose the ability to live a quality life. PTSD is often accompanied by intense anxiety, severe depression, and substance abuse. People with PTSD may relive the event over and over or lose memory of it all together. Anger, hopelessness, and despair are also byproducts of PTSD. Getting the proper treatment is vital if one wishes to regain control of their emotions and live a positive and fulfilling life.
Treating PTSD with Ibogaine Those looking to get help for PTSD have a variety of different options. Individual and group counseling are a popular option as are some different prescription medications. Everyone is different however, and for many the treatments available haven’t worked or don’t resonate with their particular beliefs.
Medication is a popular option (particularly antidepressants that increase serotonin production), but not everyone wants to be subjected to taking a pill the for the rest of their life to manage their symptoms. This is where some people are turning to alternative treatments for the help they need.
Ibogaine is one such treatment and has showed immense benefit in treating people suffering from PTSD. Rather than simply masking symptoms by taking a pill or trying to talk about what happened, Ibogaine works to address the root problems of why they’re suffering.
Ibogaine works on the brain like no traditional treatment plan can. It is not based off questions and answers and involves no commitment to taking a pill to cover up negative feelings. Instead, Ibogaine works to guide people with PTSD back to the memories and traumas that have caused their condition. And once they’ve faced these memories within their own mind, Ibogaine helps them release and find a better way to cope with their issues. While most often used as an addiction treatment, Ibogaine works wonders on those that suffer from PTSD. This psychoactive substance guides people back to the traumas they’ve experienced, allows them to work through these memories, and offers understanding as to why these events took place.
For those suffering from PTSD, Ibogaine is a substance that works with whatever is currently going on within the mind as well as the past events that have led to one’s present state. It offers greater understanding as to why someone feels the way they do and urges acceptance of not only what has happened, but also to the current state of mind they’re in. During treatment with Ibogaine one will first be introduced to the past memories and traumas that have led to PTSD, and then will be urged to let these memories go. It helps immensely for one to accept what’s happened, but perhaps even more importantly urges forgiveness on a multitude of different levels.
For those who caused harm to others (such as soldiers in active combat) Ibogaine can help them forgive themselves inflicting this pain and urge them to release the guilt they feel. For those who have been part of the other side of abuse (such as rape or the victim of a violent crime), Ibogaine can help them to forgive whoever has hurt them allowing them to release their hold on the past and move forward with their lives.
Ibogaine has proved to be life-changing for those who have taken it for PTSD. There are soldiers who’ve returned from war that claim Ibogaine is life changing in a way unlike anything else they’ve ever experienced. And for those experiencing the guilt, shame, and fear associated with PTSD, Ibogaine can offer renewed hope and a new life.