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"I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
'Indecent' Breastfeeding Photos Still Won't Fly On Facebook

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Oleander
08/27/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
I find this very interesting and relevant to my life. I was assaulted in October and developed PTSD, which worsened over the course of months until I could barely function. In addition to seeking regular therapy, I signed up for a martial arts course at a place that offers a wide variety of disciplines. For some reason, I was naturally drawn to the class that was the MOST violent, most lifelike, with the absolute lowest ratio of women to men, and no protective gear. I frequently had flashbacks during these classes. I wondered if I was simply a masochist to re-traumatize myself over and over again. However, as time goes on, my flashbacks are becoming less frequent and less debilitating. It is a very painful process (literally and figuratively!) but I can finally start to see why I was drawn to this particular style of martial arts.

I'm not an expert in psychology, but I think Freud had a theory that people will compulsively recreate traumatic experiences in an effort to "master" them. I think a lot of Freud's theories are BS, but this one always made sense to me. Perhaps recreating trauma in a controlled manner is an effective way to gain mastery over the experiences that shape us, and finally break the harmful cycles that control our lives.
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Oleander
08/27/09

@Oleander: Actually, I should clarify something. I went to a therapist immediately following the assault. I talked about it a lot, and I'm pretty sure talking about it made the symptoms worse because I kept reliving the fear. Then I took a much-needed break from the therapy for about a month, and started on my own with the martial arts and a new therapist who deals specifically with victims of sexual assault. It was only this second type of exposure, on my own terms and with a specialist, that my mental state improved. Then again, this could have just been the natural course of things anyway.
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TurtleWexlerKickedMe
08/27/09

@Oleander: This sounds fantastic, and sounds like you are doing everything "right" to piece yourself back together. Brava!
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bowleserised
08/27/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
What if your PTSD stems from learning via catastrophic incident, that much in life *is* out of your control, and that's what freaks you out?
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Edited by bowleserised at 08/27/09 12:43 AM bowleserised was starred bowleserised was unstarred

Truna
08/27/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
I'd really like to read the study and how it was conducted. I work as a clinician, providing counseling to sexually abused children, and have worked with survivors of DV and human trafficking in previous years. My understanding is that exposure therapy, while some what successful with certain populations, is potentially harmful with many others (those with eating disorders, for example.) CBT and other cognitive focused treatments are currently evidenced based interventions for trauma survivor with "proven" positive outcomes. Narrative therapy is currently being researched for torture survivors.... exposure therapy... well... I have my doubts.
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greeneyedfem
08/26/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
This is directly in opposition to Belleruth Naparstek's work with PTSD patients (she originially started working with Vietnam vets) -- she shows that forcing a person to re-experience trauma over and over again by talking about it actually worsens symptoms because they're being re-traumatized, constantly in panic mode, so their brain won't start healing itself.

She uses guided imagery for healing -- since imagery, unlike language, affects the right brain, where we experience emotions.

I haven't used guided imagery for trauma, but I have used it for anxiety. It's incredibly powerful. I highly recommend her book Invisible Heroes.
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greeneyedfem
08/27/09

@greeneyedfem: It's been a while since I read her work, but I think she was working with vets into the 90s. Her book came out in 2004, so she's not just arguing against outdated 1960s approaches.
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tobesthewonderdog
08/26/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
i went to therapeutic boarding school and exposure therapy was the bedrock of what we did. it was a little fucked up, for sure, but it's what worked. there is nothing to be gained through avoidance. i would urge anyone with issues of any sort to look into it. reliving experiences on your own terms gives you a power over them that i don't think can be achieved otherwise. i have a lot of opinions about all this and can talk about it for hours, but i think this sums them up nicely.
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Spacegirl goes home
08/26/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
As a PTSD sufferer, I have to say that Hypnotherapy has worked best for me. I literally have not had one PTSD-related nightmare since my first session. It may seem weird and new-agey (and expensive) but good God did it ever seem to help.
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gherkinfiend
08/27/09

@Spacegirl.goes.home: I'm currently having hypnotherapy for a phobia unrelated to my PTSD, but am finding it is helping with the PTSD hugely on a day to day basis.

I feel that therapy such as CBT or EMDR will be more effective in the long run for the PTSD, but anything that helps short term is a blessing. The though of exposure therapy just makes me feel panicked...I relive these events so much, I want away from them, not asked to do it willingly.
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snark_shark
08/26/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
Wait, wasn't this kind of therapy used and proven ineffective in the 1980s? For some reason, I remember hearing about that kind of stuff back then.
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J.D.Regent
08/26/09

@snark_shark: yeah, it's not new and as far as I know, not effective.
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suck_it_monkeys
08/26/09

In reply to "I’m Back In The Human Race": Elle Takes On New PTSD Therapy
The idea of making someone who has already gone through hell relive that hell over and over does not sit well with me. There is a punitive aspect to it that seems cruel and unnecessary. One way that PTST is different than OCD is that the fears of someone with PTSD are generally logical- they lived through something awful and are therefore afraid of that something.
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Glitterbug (likes life shaken, not stirred)
01/04/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
It took me several minutes to read this article because I was salivating over Dr Cox in Scrubs. Then I look at this and think "OH! DANIEL CRAIG!" so for a minute or two I looked at him.

Not, of course, that my boyfriend, sitting two feet away from me, has realised this. Basically, fellas, we're just as pervy as you we're just smart enough not to get in trouble for it.

(Although my boss isn't too fond of my Johnny Depp slideshow screensaver)
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Remedios Varo can't see no huevos.
01/03/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
Watch out - my housemates and I are going to lead the topless revolution later this year what with our love of being naked/in our underwear and all the nude portraits we're going to have on the walls. Seriously.
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bananaprincess
01/03/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
Once I read an article by a person in the process of becoming female to male tranny, where she described the effects of taking testosterone. I remember the article taking about being at a fun fair with lots of cleavage and just desperately wanting to grab it. I found it an interesting insight from someone who had been on both sides of the fence. My two and a half year old loves to pat my boobs. It is a servival instinct ( food !) very strong.
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misspell
01/03/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
Maguire writes: "That far fewer men than women are harassed or attacked by people claiming sexual provocation is not because women aren't visually aroused, but because women have learnt that their biological responses to beauty are not an excuse to commit acts of violence or discrimination." While I definitely agree that women can reign it in pretty well, I also think that, as much as I hate to admit it, I would have a hard time overpowering Daniel Craig with brute strength. And I also hate to admit that if a guy looked like I could actually overpower him physically, I probably wouldn't want to. I think that's biological too.
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Xiu MeiEurodork
01/03/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
I honestly think that if more women were topless in environments away from wet t-shirt contests, Spring Break, that Girls Gone Wild tool, and country music concerts at fairgrounds, men would quickly learn that those breasts are for politely admiring rather than an invitation to lewd remarks and worse (much worse.) I have to say that I can enjoy breasts without having to ask that they jiggle just so, suggest they need some sort of whipped cream on them, or having to state my appreciation by hooting like some sort of blue-balled bonobo. Too bad so many men would decide it's an opportunity for a quick, uncomfortable grope. And that's just the start.

Women don't (generally) act (in public) like sex-crazed loons because men wouldn't respond kindly to it. Many men act like that because the places they are able to see breasts actually encourage that nonsense. I can't imagine how any transition period would go from the present to an ideal future where women could show their breasts without making a fuss, but I do know I'd welcome the change.

The law is the first place to start, the culture may or may not change later.

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RedHotz
01/04/09

I am thankful that I saw several saying that they got turned on by the sight of men because I was like uh oh am I gonna be weird here. I am a very visual person and I freely admit that a good looking guy can easily turn me on. Even being married I still look as my husband says I am married not dead. I look just don't touch. I got some friends of my daughters laughing today when they were talking about actors they thought were cute. I mentioned of course the ones that I said would always have my interest. Some of them being Sean Connery, Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliot. They all cracked up when I said Sam Elliot's voice could turn a dead woman on.
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CHIC NOIR
01/03/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
I've always thought that those small tribal/ethnic groups on National Geographic type shows and documentaries have this nudity thing figured out. While men in the West act crazed at the sight of a naked body, the sight of a nice pair not in the least throws off tribal males.
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onestrawplz
01/04/09

@CHIC NOIR: I totes agree. Men here just freak out over the sight of a tit because he is trained to since birth.
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onestrawplz
01/04/09

@onestrawplz: It's kinda like how men in some Middle Eastern countries are turned on by a woman's ankle.
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Wendy Marie Testaburger
01/03/09

In reply to Are Women Better At Controlling Lust?
Am I the only one that has sex with random hot guys IN MY HEAD within a couple seconds of beholding their hotness?
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Ascendo_tuum
01/03/09

@Eaten not Slurped: Definitely not! I mentally have sex with lots of hot women that I see, too.
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