Briefly describe the trauma experienced by the survivor in the video you selected. Using the Triage Assessment Form as a guide, explain the affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses of the survivor on the video that you selected. Apply the developmen

PSYCH 16740 Disaster, Crisis and Trauma Week 3 – How the Treatment of Trauma Can Help

Tim – A Motor Vehicle Accident Survivor Page 1

Winged Words Transcription ∞ http://dropbox.yousendit.com/wingedwords

TIM: Well, I remember it like it was yesterday. I try not to think about it, but the funny thing is I think about it all the time anyway. So I learned I might as well face it. I learned to face it. We were on our way home from visiting my partner's family. I was tired. I was just thinking of getting home. I was coming around a curve in the road and when I came around the curve, there was a car in my lane. I heard a huge noise. There must have been a crash but the funny thing is that that's all I really remember. I guess the air bag went off because I broke my wrists. I remember how much it hurt in the emergency room. But that's my first real clear memory. I don't even remember the ambulance. Anyway, I had months of therapy for my wrists and when that was over, I thought it was all over. But even months after that, I couldn't get it out of my head. I would see that car coming right for me. I felt tense and irritated all the time. I started to drink. It was beer mainly but it was too much. Sometimes I would even hear what I was saying - you know in my head – and I couldn't understand even myself why I was being so mean to people. One day, my partner told me he was going to leave me if I didn't get some help. Well, that got my attention. But I was still afraid that if people knew that I had to see somebody, they might think I was really going crazy. But at this point, I just needed some help. So, I went to see my regular doctor and she referred me to a specialist. So I told that doctor about it and he said I had PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder. At first, I couldn't believe it. I thought that was something soldiers got in the war, you know. But then I was angry. I couldn't believe it. Then I was angry all over again that this had happened to me. But you know finally I knew I just needed some help. And so this counselor told me about treatments that might make me feel better. I could do therapy that focused right on the accident itself, either in group sessions or individual sessions. She called this “trauma-focused

PSYCH 16740 Disaster, Crisis and Trauma Week 3 – How the Treatment of Trauma Can Help

Tim – A Motor Vehicle Accident Survivor Page 2

Winged Words Transcription ∞ http://dropbox.yousendit.com/wingedwords

therapy.” She also talked to me about support groups or counseling to help me handle things better in my day-to-day life. Now, before the accident, I handled things just fine, so I didn't think that was a problem. But I'll be honest with you, it was all really hard. You know, I was already thinking about it too much when I didn't want to. And everybody told me I should just get over it. And I really just wanted to get over it myself. But I knew I couldn't do this on my own. The counselor, she talked to me about also seeing a psychiatrist for some medication that might help without being addicting. Well, I was really determined to get over this. So I decided to take the medication and do the therapy. But it felt like I was leaping into the unknown. In the individual sessions, it was really hard to talk about the accident itself, but I stuck with it. It felt totally wrong to reverse how I thought. I wanted to avoid everything that reminded me of the accident. But the therapist, she encouraged me to do things that I'd been avoiding in day-to-day life like driving to new places or even seeing a movie if it had a car wreck in it. I was afraid I'd panic. But the counselor, she reassured me that the feelings would get a lot less intense over time if I just faced my fears. She was pretty good, she was good. She gave me information about how I might expect to react. And she set a pace in the therapy, you know that I could handle. And, you know the funny thing is my feelings about the accident, they really have changed. Now, when I think about it or I see something on TV, I'm not overwhelmed by fear or the need to get away from it. I was afraid that the medication would change my personality but it's really just helped me be less tense and less irritable. I actually feel more like my old self. You know, I'm not snapping at coworkers and I can actually concentrate at work. And when I drive, I don't have that panic surge. Last weekend, we went to the beach and I never could have done that months ago. Now you know it hasn't been totally smooth. You know, if I'm in my car and somebody cuts me off or even I hear a really loud noise, it will get me

PSYCH 16740 Disaster, Crisis and Trauma Week 3 – How the Treatment of Trauma Can Help

Tim – A Motor Vehicle Accident Survivor Page 3

Winged Words Transcription ∞ http://dropbox.yousendit.com/wingedwords

going. But, now you know I know it's not just me just going crazy, there's a way to handle it. And I can handle it. I can get back in my car the next day and I can do the things I need to do, just you know ordinary things, just day-to-day things. It's kind of like having your life back.