Have you experienced an accident or another traumatic event which caused you to fear for your life? If so, you may be experiencing some of the following symptoms:
- Flashbacks, in which you feel you are reliving the event
- Frequent distressing nightmares
- Dissociation, where you feel detached or preoccupied and find it difficult to concentrate
- Avoidance of people or places that remind you of the event
- Drinking, drug-taking, eating or working too much in order to avoid thinking about the event
- Feeling on guard, on the lookout for danger.
These are all normal experiences following a life-threatening or otherwise overwhelming event. Sometimes these symptoms subside by themselves over the following weeks. However, sometimes, they persist to the extent that they have a serious and long-term impact on your daily functioning.
If your symptoms do not appear to be subsiding and are getting in the way of your living life to the full, or if you experienced a distressing event years ago which you suspect is impacting on you now, please be aware that there is help available. EMDR is an extremely effective therapy in resolving the above symptoms. It is not always possible to get EMDR on the NHS, even though it is one of the treatments recommended by NICE for the treatment of PTSD. You can read more about EMDR here.
If you would like to explore the possibility of EMDR to resolve your symptoms, please do contact us.