I am a recovering PTSD and substance abuse survivor who now has 1.5 years of sobriety. I have also been nightmare free, relatively panic attack free, and flashback free for about a year, after 15 years of personal hell.

For this, I credit my compassionate and loving therapist most, but I feel the tools you've created and taught have been a Godsend.

Well, with my AA participation, I was asked to tell my story in the woman's prison. Afterwards, a number of the women shared that they too are experiencing nightmares on a daily basis, secondary to chronic abuse.

Question:
First I wanted to say thank you for your work! I use your General Wellness, MS, Stress and Healthful Sleep cds frequently. My question has to do with anxiety. I am seeing a doc for meds, but I still have some breakthrough anxiety especially, at stressful times and while menstruating.

I recently purchased the Panic Attacks cd, thinking the calming and feeling secure images would help. When I received it I started having second thoughts. Before I open it, would this be helpful to me? I saw that you do recommend the Stress cd to people with anxiety. Thank you
Joyce

Question:  
I have a question. Obviously I made up a name because it is possible that a particular person could figure out who I am by reading my question [Ed. Note: We always change the name unless specifically asked not to].

My question: what suggestions do you have for a person in crisis who is diagnosed with PTSD and depression/anxiety, and now possibly RAD (reactive attachment disorder) and has to end therapy w/ my first and only therapist after almost two and a half years of meeting twice a week, due to financial issues.

Dear Belleruth,
I have been reading Your Sixth Sense and listening to some of the related downloads.  I wanted to thank you for helping me understand the language of my own inner workings a little bit better.  I have been struggling with Lyme Disease and am faced with the decision of IV antibiotics. It's a rough decision b/c I have many allergies, so it may have to take place in the ICU under the watch of medical staff for 5-8 weeks... ugh!  Here is what I wrote on my blog tonight:

My wife suffers from panic attacks, anxiety, depression, OCD and medical phobias. These issues have been going on for over a decade with no resolution in sight. The problems seemed to start just after a death in the family, and the anxiety just escalated from there until it turned into debilitating OCD, depression etc.

The largest obstacle to overcome seems to be the medical phobia. Because of this phobia I can't get her to seek treatment, so one thing just escalates into another. At this point she barely speaks to people, doesn't watch television or read etc. This is because any word she associates with medicine sends her into an uncontrollable panic. The words don't have to be medical - she just has to be able to draw some sort of correlation – for instance, hospitality, sounds like hospital.

Question:
I'd like to ask Belleruth about the seeming correlation between trauma and fibromyalgia in women.  Has there been any research into this?

Answer:
Mary, I write about this in Invisible Heroes.  At the time of publication there were only 2 studies published, showing the link between fibromyalgia and traumatic stress – for men or women, although either condition hits more women than men.  Now there are too many studies to count, but you can start with a recent article by some Italian researchers, Stisi et al, titled Etiopathogenetic mechanisms of fibromyalgia syndrome. Robert Scaer was on to this years ago, and wrote about it in The Body Bears the Burden.  But the short answer is YES, there is a big, fat correlation.

Here is an explanatory (or at least I hope so) excerpt of the relevant material from my book (and for those of you who have the book, it’s in Chapter 5, The Physical Effects of Trauma, pages 78-80.

Hi Belleruth.
I wonder if its possible to focus my attention on what I want, like a career in the culinary, and end up doing catering for a very critical group and wonder if this is a sign. Is it possible that I didn’t tweak my focus well enough and now I’m getting some negativity in the mix?
Love to hear from you.
David D.

We got an exasperated email from the caregiver husband of a chronically ill woman, suffering from a perfect storm of health challenges.  We’re including an edited version of the whole sequence of emails, because it’s got some good info and it has a nice progression:  

Dear Health Journeys,
My wife just bought a couple of your CDs and the background music is so loud and annoying that she can hardly listen to them.  She can't hear the words because of all of the background noise which you apparently think is calming music. We complained about this previously and had hoped that the new ones would not have all of the annoying background music. I guess no one at your company cares.
Jim Waters

Question:

I have been listening to your Weight Loss guided imagery program and have noticed that there is a section that brings me great sadness.  Saturday I was crying outright during the section and had great trouble getting on with my day.  It is the part where you have me visualize all the loved ones helping me.  There is no one there.  I am alone.  I don't know what to do - I believe the imagery is helping but this part is having a real negative impact on the rest.  I would appreciate any advice.  
Lauren

Question:
Ok, I know that your book "Your Sixth Sense: Activating Your Psychic Potential" is a very old book by now, but I was wondering what you said that happens before one would receive psi information that they might hear a high pitched sound or different tones...

Well, since I've been reading it, I have been paying a lot more attention to my thoughts and attempting to find my "inner voice".

So I've noticed that there is always a very high pitched tone in my mind all the time, although it is harder to notice when my brain is in a scramble...but it is still there.

I was wondering if that would mean that I could be receiving intuitive information all the time and i just need to open up the "third eye" to receive it?

Lauren