From Guest Blogger Robert Johnson

When researching PTSD and alternative ways of helping people overcome the daily rounds of stress and pain, you might encounter woodworking as a therapy. Arts, in general, are proven to be very helpful in overcoming mental illnesses since a new course in psychology, known as an art therapy, has been developed.

PTSD is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It can develop a few months after the traumatic event. If the event was prolonged and experienced over a period of time, it often becomes complex post-traumatic stress disorder or CPTSD.

When it comes to woodworking, many people who have experienced CPTSD/PTSD have witnessed a change after starting woodworking workshops and getting deeply into it. One thing that is common to woodworking and regular psychotherapy is that it can improve the self-esteem of people experiencing this illness.

In the following, you will get to know three people whose lives have been changed thanks to woodworking Their experience may encourage you to give a try on your own.

Mierop Mann is a 52-year-old businessman, who left his family and his business in order to deal with PTSD and find a new way to face a childhood trauma he had. Since he had left his business and family in order to have a personal freedom, a broken piece of furniture and lack of money made him start a new journey.
“I needed to transform a broken piece of furniture and re-purpose it without costing an arm and a leg. It was an experiment and I did not know where it would take me or if it would make a statement at all,” Mann said.
Since the transformation happened and he was able to change a piece and express his feelings, Mann continued working on it.

“Every piece I do is a new chapter and has a new introduction like a movie. It takes me on a journey, allowing the opportunity to reflect on various trauma at different stages of my life. It’s the story of my inner-child struggling with the abuse and trying to find the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Woodworking will be the savior to a very conflicted existence”.

Laura B. Paskavitz is a single woman from Boston and her struggle with CPTSD started in her childhood. She was raised in a cult and has been dealing with mental disorders for over 25 years. She was introduced to woodworking by her artist friend and, when she was in her 20s, she started processing wood.

“I think people struggling with self-esteem issues who may not see their own value would benefit from woodworking. By learning to create and build, the hope is that the process and outcome will prove they can make, and are themselves, something to be valued”, Laura said.

Rolando M. Corral is US Army veteran who retired in 2006, Two years after he was diagnosed with PTSD, he met a Korean War veteran whose garage was full of tools. This vet taught Rolando the basics of woodworking. The most interesting part started after a dream Rolando had in which he dreamed about making a wooden American flag and saving another veteran from committing suicide.

“I want woodworking to define who I am for the rest of my life. As for that table, my kids were very pleased, and I noticed my creations put a smile on people’s faces. Woodworking helped me open up to the idea of allowing people to come into my personal space and share it with them just for a brief moment. Because woodworking helps heal the hidden wounds of war,” Rolando explained.

15119919 – wellness – young woman floating in spa or swimming pool, she is very relaxed

To be honest, I had no idea that this was a real therapy. I just knew that it felt really good when I had the pool all to myself. According to those who know, here are the benefits of floating:

• Increased energy levels
• Improved quality of sleep
• Heightened production of endorphins
• Diminished anxiety, depression and tension
• Enhanced creativity and problem-solving abilities
• Increased concentration, memory and mental clarity
• Improved athletic performance
• Quickened rehabilitation and recovery
• Reduced blood pressure and heart rate
• Improved circulation
• Reduced instances of neuromuscular aches and pains, inflammation and tendonitis, sprains/strains
• Strengthened immune system

So what is it? It’s exactly what it sounds like except not in a big pool. Some places have small float chambers that are just a little bigger than a coffin while others have chambers as big as a small room measuring 8 ft long x 6 ft wide with an 8 ft ceiling. These enclosures are large enough to allow stretching out completely or standing up. Very little is necessary to prepare for a session though you don’t want to go in while you are too full or hungry. You also want to make sure you empty your bladder as they don’t want you peeing in this pool.

During a float, you step into a quiet, warm, private spa called a float tank and lay back in water in which 1000-1200 lbs of Epsom salts have been dissolved. The water is denser than the Dead Sea, so you will float right on top! You will be fully supported, and you will expend no physical energy to stay afloat. The water is kept at a constant temperature of around 95 degrees, which feels warm at first but soon becomes almost imperceptible. When you choose to turn out the lights, your eyes can rest in a comforting darkness that is the same whether you open or close them. External sounds are kept to an absolute minimum through extensive soundproofing, earplugs, and the design of the tanks themselves.
The length of a session varies, but you could choose to be in there for 90 minutes. I’m pretty good at entertaining myself, but I’m not sure if I could do it for that long. Perhaps if I can fall asleep as I often fall asleep during my 90 minute massage. I believe I’ll give it a try and let you know.

If you get your healthcare from the VA, then you can use their electronic records system called ebenefits. Through ebenefits you can renew prescriptions, make appointments, email your providers, track various aspects of your health and even request copies of your military records. But you know the best thing you can do on ebenefits? You can read your own medical records! And I don’t mean the general sheet they give you after an appointment that tells you your vital statistics for that day, I’m talking the nitty gritty.

Most places act like your medical records are top secret information. Next time you’re at the doctor and the nurse is writing in your chart, just ask her if you can see it. I bet she won’t. They never leave them anywhere where you might get access to them. Honestly, I have no idea why. There can’t be anything in there we don’t know, right?

With ebenefits, you get it all. Let’s say you go to the doctor with stomach pain. Your doctor suspects a stomach ulcer and decides to do a CT scan of your abdomen. You have the procedure and wait for your follow up visit to get the results. Meanwhile, the Radiologist reads the test and sends the results to your doctor. Your doctor looks at the result and tells you, “No, you don’t have an ulcer”, or, “Yes, you do have an ulcer.” Then he proceeds to treat you for said ulcer. But did you know that the Radiologist’s report actually goes over every organ in your abdomen? With ebenefits you get to read the whole thing.

This is how the above example could have gone differently. Prior to your follow up visit to get the results, you got on ebenefits and read the Radiologist’s full report so you already knew that you did or didn’t have an ulcer. But as you’re reading about the other organs in your body, you get to the pancreas and you see the words “possible IPMN – verify with ultrasound.” If you’re like most of the population, you have no idea what this means, so you turn to Google and find that this means you may have a tumor on your pancreas that 70% of the time turns into aggressive pancreatic cancer. Now, when you go to be told about the ulcer you already know about, you could ask about this pancreas thing. Because, remember? The doctor never mentioned the pancreas thing. He just told you about the ulcer because that is the only part of the report he looked at.

In the real life version of this story, the patient had read their records prior to the follow up and did ask the doctor about the pancreas. The doctor looked at the rest of the report right there and also had to Google “IPMN” to find out what it was. Thankfully, that patient is now being seen by the gut doctors.

If you have access to your medical records, READ them! Thoroughly!