Peace for PTSD // Pain In Your Brain [Part 4 Of 5]

PTSD Definition: Mental, emotional and spiritual suffering due to horrible past experiences resulting in a loss of faith in order and continuity of life.  

PTSD sufferers in the Bible:

1. . 

Trauma: Material possessions destroyed/stolen; business ruined & employees assassinated; all children killed in freak accident; contracts painful disease (Job 1:13-22; 2:7-10)

PTSD Symptoms (DSM V): Depression, anger, anxiety, loneliness, passive aggressive behavior, sleep disturbance, helpless feelings; persistent, negative beliefs about oneself (Job 3; 6:14-15)

“Why didn’t I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last? Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from? I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain.” Job 3:11-13 (Message)

“Likewise, I have been given months that are of no use, and I have inherited nights filled with misery.” Job 7:3 (God’s Word)

2. .

Trauma: Near-death experiences (1 Sam 17:43-49; 1 Sam 19:10); close friends killed (1 Sam 19:11-12; 22:20-22), Seven year fugitive (1 Sam 23-30), entire family kidnapped/own men nearly kill him (1 Sam 30:3-6)

PTSD Symptoms (DSM V): Intense psychological distress; depression, paranoia, sleep disturbance; outbursts of anger; greater perceived threat of danger; persistent negative emotional state (Psalm 13:1-6; 22; 31; 38; 55:1-11)

“Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish…I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.” Psalm 6:2-3, 6-7(NIV)

3. .

Trauma: “I [Paul] have been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.” 2 Corinthians 11:23-25

PTSD Symptoms (DSM V): Fear; anxiety; helpless feelings; feelings of estrangement from others, intense psychological distress; persistent negative emotional state; hyper-vigilance; sleep disturbance.

“For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within.” 2 Corinthians 7:5

“…We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death…” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Three Steps To Experience Peace

1. Consider Help. 

“Get all the advice you can, and you will succeed; without it you will fail.” Proverbs 15:22 (GN)

2. Focus On Something . 

“Be careful how you think, your life is shaped by your thoughts.” 

Proverbs 4:23 (Good News)

“Fill your mind with things that are good and deserve praise; things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.”

Philippians 4:8

3. Enlist A .

“Two are better off than one, because together if one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls there is no one to help him.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.” James 5:16 (Message)