Amazing New Treatment Option For PTSD- [SGB injection]
Have you heard of S.G.B. injection for post-traumatic stress disorder? Recently, one of our viewers commented on my video and asked if I knew about it or if I'd made a video about it. It sparked my curiosity because I had never heard of injections for P.T.S.D.
P.T.S.D. stands for post-traumatic stress disorder, and because there is such a high correlation between trauma and addiction, we're deep-diving into the S.G.B. injection. It's going to help us understand better if this injection could be helpful for those that are struggling with these co-occurring disorders.
Generally, we all know what the word trauma means, but there is a clinical definition for post-traumatic stress disorder. In the counseling world, there's a lot of talk about something called complex trauma.
I thought the best place to begin would be to explain the issue to you, and then we'll get into this S.G.B. injection, how it works, how it impacts, and how it can be a super helpful resource for someone recovering from trauma and addiction.
Let's take a look at what the official criteria for diagnosing P.T.S.D. are.
Criteria A has to do with the stressor, the thing causing the trauma, the event, or the circumstance. There can be direct exposure to something that's either life-threatening or so severe that you thought it could result in the loss of your life or someone else's life. It also counts if you are a witness to something, even if you are the person that caused something to happen.
This trauma happens to parents with children struggling with an addiction. Parents are aware of what their child is doing and what's happening to them. They'll start to replay those things in their head over and over again.
Eventually, that can reset your anxiety or stress management system--the official word for that is your sympathetic nervous system. Another indirect way to experience trauma is when you're exposed to severe or adverse details of a traumatic event.
This commonly happens to like first responders or healthcare professionals and counselors. When you hear about traumatic things in such detail, it becomes so vivid in your mind that you can experience that trauma.
Criteria B is all about unwanted memories. At least one of these is required to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder. Unwanted memories can be in the form of intrusive and upsetting memories. It can be flashbacks or nightmares, including emotional distress after exposure to a trigger or something that reminds you of the bad memory.
Not only does the emotional response count, but the physical response counts after exposure to an external trigger or something that reminds you of the bad experience.
Emotional and physical triggers would be racing thoughts or getting panicked. That makes your heart run, and your breathing is changed. That's what I mean when I now say the emotional and physical response to external triggers.
Criteria C is about avoidance, and you must have at least one of these symptoms to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
By avoidance, I mean the person avoids trauma-related stimuli or triggers. They won't go to certain places or listen to certain people. They won't engage in certain activities or events because it brings up too much bad stuff. They may also avoid trauma-related feelings. If certain feelings were experienced during the trauma, they would prevent anything that may make them feel that same way.
Criteria D is about how trauma negatively affects your thinking and mood; two of these are required to get a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. The first one is negative thoughts or feelings that begin to worsen after the trauma. Another one is the inability to recall important parts of the traumatic event or the traumatic memory.
Sometimes, people forget parts of a traumatic experience because they blackout that memory as a way of protection. You may develop overly negative thoughts about yourself and the world, have a pessimistic outlook, or always think others have bad intentions.
Criteria E is how your reactions and arousal systems change after experiencing severe trauma. You may have increased irritability and aggression. You may see an increase in risky or destructive behavior. You may see an increase in hypervigilance. That means being constantly aware and watching everything, trying to ensure you're safe or looking for danger.
You have a heightened startle reaction, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty sleeping. All these symptoms mean you're staying on high alert all the time. It's like your alarm system busted, and now it's in a constant alarm state.
Criteria F has to do with how long the symptoms have been. After a scary event, you may have symptoms that last for a few weeks, but they will ultimately go away. When that happens, it's called acute stress disorder. If symptoms persist, it turns into total post-traumatic stress disorder.
Criteria G is distress in the person if their life is impaired because of the trauma. Their hobbies, interests, activities, work, and relationships.
Criteria H has to do with what they call exclusion, meaning the symptoms are not coming from a drug or medications. When someone is using methamphetamines, those symptoms are triggered by the substance or illness itself.
What is it? S.G.B. injection to help with P.T.S.D. S.G.B. stands for Stellate ganglion block. They're a bundle of nerves in the neck region and are associated with the sympathetic nervous system.
It sets this part of your brain on overdrive, causing it to overproduce sympathetic nervous system-type traits.
A doctor will perform the S.B.G. injection with the help of x-rays and ultrasounds to block the nerves. The infusion will prevent nerves from getting to that over-activated state, which prevents it from triggering all the symptoms.
Simply put, it blocks the alarm system signal, like a reboot of the sympathetic nervous system. From reading reviews, this is a game-changer. S.B.G. can help someone get back to living the life they want to live.
When people have trauma-related symptoms, they fall into drug and alcohol use as a way to medicate the problem, as you know, only makes things ten times worse. When a mental health problem triggers addiction, the addiction itself has to be treated first.
From what I can tell from my research, the S.B.G. injection seems like a pretty effective way to treat trauma.
Amber Hollingsworth
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