What’s really going on in PTSD brains?

I taught Chelsea Manning how to drive when she was known as Bradley Manning. She (at the time 'he') worked for me in Oklahoma City at a startup coding in JavaScript. I'd pick him up in the morning on the way to work and would let him drive. He had a learner's permit at 17 because he had just moved back from England, where the driving age is older.

One day we pulled up to stop sign where the crossroad did not stop. I was discussing the art of scanning for traffic before pulling away from a stop sign when he began to unexpectedly make a right turn. As we were pulling into a path of an oncoming car, I instinctively slapped my left hand against his upper chest while shouting "Stop Bradley!" The result was curious, and was what I believe now to be a PTSD episode.

I had to put the car in park, set the brake, take out the key and go around and coax him out of the car because he was unresponsive to verbal input. He was just sitting there breathing in and out and just doing the long stare. He was probably that way for 4-5 minutes total. Never did get out of him what happened, other than some vague conversations about violence in his home when he was younger. Slapping him in the chest and shouting definitely triggered something.

If it weren't obvious, this was well before the Army hired her and she committed acts for which the government claims she is guilty and culpable. Not sure how someone with preexisting PTSD can be held responsible for all their actions, or should have ever been hired by the Army in the first place. Figured it was time I shared the story given her current situation.

>> In the meantime, they note that there is a growing set of therapeutic tools that can help patients with PTSD, such as cognitive behavioral therapy mindfulness training and pharmacological approaches.

Notably absent from that list is EMDR, which is highly effective in a lot of people.

technical article referenced: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12680872