{"id":17670,"date":"2018-08-28T15:38:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-28T20:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thepapergown.zocdoc.com\/?p=17670"},"modified":"2023-03-03T15:12:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T20:12:30","slug":"the-therapy-that-helped-me-conquer-traumatic-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/guides\/the-therapy-that-helped-me-conquer-traumatic-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"The Therapy That Helped Me Conquer Traumatic Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe need a flight attendant! Now!\u201d The passenger\u2019s sudden, shrill plea for help sent me into panic mode on my sunrise flight from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan. When someone passed out two rows in front of me moments later, a buzz of anxiety filled the plane and my heart started beating in double time.\u00a0<\/span>Fortunately, the situation resolved itself quickly, and the passenger came to before paramedics ushered her off the plane at the concourse. But when everyone else moved on, I couldn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I was able to stop thinking about the plane emergency, I wasn\u2019t able to shake the way it made me feel. It was like my body was holding me hostage in fight-or-flight mode. For days that turned into weeks, I could hardly eat or sleep, and I felt shaky, weak and nauseated, sometimes to the point of throwing up. After my doctor ruled out anything medically concerning, I brought it up to my therapist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like you were really triggered by what you saw,\u201d she told me. \u201cDo you think your reaction is connected to something deeper, like a memory of your mom?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

A decade before the flight, I had found my mom, who struggled with addiction to painkillers, passed out in her bedroom \u2014 another panic-provoking emergency. To help me process my memories of the flight and my mom, as well as the connection between them, my therapist suggested a type of therapy called eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the <\/span>EMDR Institute<\/span><\/a>, this therapy was introduced <\/span>in 1987<\/span><\/a> to help trauma survivors process and reframe traumatic memories in a safe environment. Since then, research has shown EMDR to be an <\/span>effective treatment for emotional trauma<\/span><\/a>: In <\/span>one 2014 study<\/span><\/a>, nearly 90 percent of single-trauma victims reported a total abatement of PTSD symptoms after three 90-minute EMDR sessions. There\u2019s also clinical evidence that EMDR is helpful for <\/span>substance use disorders<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>generalized anxiety<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>phobias<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The therapy employs <\/span>bilateral stimulation<\/span><\/a>, a technique where patients engage in rhythmic eye movements<\/a> or sensory stimulation. Different types of bilateral stimulation require patients to follow a therapist\u2019s finger from side to side or hold buzzers emitting alternating vibrations.<\/span><\/p>\n