How would you react if someone in your church went through something traumatic, such as a violent crime or a horrible car accident?
What would you do if you reached out to them and found them to be irritable or distant? Would you think it meant they didn’t want your help? Would you stop trying?
Because the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often misinterpreted, it takes patience, understanding and commitment to minister to someone with PTSD, said Jean Roberson, director of field education and instructor for Samford University’s School of Public Health in Birmingham.
That’s why national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) launched a new effort in 2015 called Project HELP: PTSD to educate church members on how to better help those among them who are suffering.
“Sometimes we rush to help and we do something that actually makes it worse. We have to educate ourselves and our churches in order to be helpful,” Roberson said to a group of church leaders from across Shelby Baptist Association who gathered Feb. 26 at Community Baptist Church, Maylene.
The gathering was held to model for church leaders how to use Project HELP: PTSD teaching tools in their own churches. The project offers educational materials on PTSD, as well as a Bible study, prayer guide, list of ministry opportunities and guidance on how to start a trauma care team in your church.
‘Not a light subject’
“Talking about how God has made us to deal with trauma is not a light subject,” Roberson said. “You go through this horrific event and then it lives with you and you react physically, emotionally and spiritually. We see that happen to people. What would we do if that was our friends and family?”
Trauma affects nearly everyone at some point, regardless of social or economic status, Roberson said. To put things in perspective, the leading cause of PTSD in the United States isn’t military service, as many commonly think — it’s car accidents.
It’s important to know how to help a person through the healing process, she said. “People may say or think, ‘just get over it’ or ‘time heals all things’ — which it doesn’t.”
The trauma could easily spark PTSD, which is a diagnosable condition if all eight of these symptoms are present at the same time for at least a month, Roberson said.
1. The stressor
This is an incident in which the person “was exposed to death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury or actual or threatened sexual violence,” according to Project HELP: PTSD.
“PTSD is always caused by a specific event and the person’s symptoms can be traced back to that event,” Roberson said.
And sometimes, even if the event doesn’t seem traumatic to the outsider, it can be traumatic to the person if they perceived they were in great danger, she said. “It’s the perception that determines the reaction.”
2. Intrusion symptoms
The person persistently relives the event through nightmares and flashbacks and he or she may have intense reactions after being reminded of the trauma.
3. Avoidance
The person tries to avoid places, things or activities that remind them of the trauma.
4. Negative alterations in cognition/mood
This symptom can take the form of feeling alienated from others (and/or distancing himself or herself from others), showing less interest in activities that used to be important to the person or expressing persistent strong emotions like horror or anger.
“Symptoms like this one can often be misinterpreted by people who try to reach out to help. They may think the person is ‘crazy’ or that they want to be left alone,” Roberson said.
5. Alterations in arousal or activity
The person may startle easily or have trouble sleeping and they may be hyper-vigilant or aggressive.
“A person who has been through a trauma is often on constant high alert and that’s hard for people to understand,” Roberson said. “And for first responders or military (personnel) it’s especially hard to turn off because in the place where the trauma happened hyper-vigilance was needed and valued. But in normal life it’s hard for people to understand why they may be reacting that way.”
6. Duration
The symptoms must all be present together for at least one month to be diagnosed as PTSD.
7. Function significance
The person may be unable to carry out his or her normal activities, such as work.
“For example if a woman gets sexually assaulted and the smell of sweat is a trigger for her that reminds her of the trauma, what is she going to do if her job is to be a personal trainer at a gym? It’s going to be very hard for her,” Roberson said.
8. Exclusion
The symptoms can’t be explained by an outside factor, like alcohol use, medication or another illness.
In the midst of PTSD and other trauma-related issues “we cannot leave each other alone,” Roberson said. Research shows that a supportive social community can be a major factor in PTSD recovery, she said, noting that the Church has an opportunity to be a glowing example of that.
The best way to help is to educate yourself and your church members on the topic and form a care team of members trained in how to best help trauma victims, she said.
“Often sitting down and having a long, meaningful conversation with them isn’t the most helpful thing. They need these kinds of conversations but they need to be having them with a trained counselor who specializes in PTSD,” Roberson said. “A care team is not a therapeutic kind of group, just a constant presence trying to eliminate some of the stress that goes on with life.”
Often the best thing a care team can do is to make days a little easier for the victim and his or her family, she said. “Offer to babysit the kids so they can have a break or go do something relaxing, or set up a schedule for people to take them meals. Clean their house. Become their running buddy.”
And if you’re going to minister well to trauma victims, you have to commit to the long haul — even when walking with them through these things gets tough, Roberson said.
“The symptoms will not always be welcoming to people who are trying to help so you have to differentiate that the behavior is an expression of something that has happened — it’s not who the person is.”
For more information about Project HELP: PTSD and resources to help with PTSD ministry, visit www.alawoman.com/projecthelp.
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