Each month, we are able to highlight specific groups and/or illnesses that need more light to be shined upon them. For the month of June, one of those groups are those struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, or PTSD.
PTSD is not about the stressful situation that an individual has had to experience, but instead the after effect and shifts that has and continues to occur in their bodies even after the initial event has passed. Even though it may seem like our brains may forget traumatic events, our bodies certainly do not.
We understand that chronic stress and trauma can lead to shifts in our bodies and DNA and can be passed down generationally as well; this is called intergenerational trauma and epigenetics. Because social determinants of health are direct influencers over this chronic and intergenerational trauma, we at NACDD work tirelessly at attempting to alleviate our world of policies aimed at continuing the status quo that lead to these initial inequities. We do this work via educational resources and seminars, Fireside Chats, webinars and thought leadership round tables, program evaluation, as well as embedding anti-racism in all of the work that we engage in.
Specialized PTSD support looks different in different states and regions, depending on the availability of resources. There are national organizations that do offer zip code specific support, however, we would love to have your ideas listed here on Higher Logic, where do you direct your constituents to go when dealing with PTSD?
We invite you to join our Health Equity Council where we discuss many opportunities to support individuals in all 50 states and nine territories, so that we have local and consistent help and support as needed. Additionally, if you feel the call to join our Health Equity Council, you can reach out to Renaldo Wilson at Rwilson_ic@chronicdisease.org.