Healing From PTSD Through The Teachings Of Tanya

MyLife Essay Contest

Veterans, survivors, victims, words to describe those who have made it through. Something big. Something life altering. To walk away unscathed is as rare an occurrence as to fully heal. The scars run very deep.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has recently become more common due to a growing number of people who suffer from trauma. There exist many different methods of helping the afflicted with their symptoms and they each have a varied level of effectiveness and popularity. Explored here will be several common approaches, how and why they may help, and how Chassidus (specifically Tanya) solves the inherent problems of each and allows for a more complete healing.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (abbreviated to PTSD) develops shortly after someone experiences an event that threatens their safety, such as, but not limited to war, car crashes, or any form of abuse. They can cause in the victim intense memories, reactions, and flashbacks associated with the event, which include avoidance, re-experience of the traumatic event, or intense anxiety. Although a reaction is normal in an individual who experiences trauma, PTSD is diagnosed and suspected when the symptoms carry out over a lengthier period of time or are incredibly intense¹.

Once an individual gets diagnosed with PTSD there are multiple methods of dealing with it. A person may choose to heal using psychiatric medicine, psychotherapy, holistic/ alternative healing or through, as this essay will expound on, the wisdom of chassidus, to help them work through the issue. The point of this essay is not to advise someone who is suffering nor does it attempt to give a complete evaluation of all the ways one can heal, it is simply to view these approaches with the purpose of seeing what they each bring to the table.

Psychiatric medicines are sometimes prescribed to those suffering from PTSD². The medicine will help the patient alleviate the symptoms of anxiety, or depression. Different kinds of medication can be prescribed, such as mood stabilizers or SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.) However, not in all cases are the medicines found helpful. It also must be noted that the psychiatric medicine is only able to deal with symptoms that are being experienced, not the underlying problem, thereby limiting the success of the medical intervention. It is also possible that it will take a long time until the appropriate medicine (or medicines) can be found to help, and in the interim the symptoms can change or worsen. Medicine is helpful when there is an individual with acute symptoms that are stopping him from receiving the help that he needs. Although it is not a permanent solution, medicine can help those who can otherwise not function.

Psychotherapy is one of the most popular and classic approaches to dealing with PTSD through giving the client tools to deal, and the ability to reprocess and strengthen themselves. Some of the more popular therapies are exposure and reprocessing therapy³. Each patient works with a therapist whom they feel comfortable with to find their path of healing that works best for their particular symptoms and issues. When working in therapy the individual is guided to take steps that enable him to move forward. Therapy may not work due to the individual’s inability to process cognitively. Another prevalent issue may be that the patient is unable to participate in the therapeutic process due to the present symptoms.

Holistic healing is another popular method to working through trauma and an area where one might find success. Whether one chooses to use methods such as EFT⁴ (emotional freedom technique) or eastern healing methods, such as acupuncture or homeopathy, holistic healing might owe its success to treating a whole individual instead of working solely on what the patient can describe. The apparent con is that not always will healing the issue help recreate habits that are conducive to healthy living and an individual might find although they could be working on the underlying issues they are unable to make the changes necessary in their day to day activities.

What all of the above lack is that they are missing a key part of who a person, specifically a Jew, is. Today’s scientific and medical world recognize a person as someone who has a single mind and thought process. The Tanya, authored by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and referred to as the Written Torah of Chassidus, introduces a concept that the world fails to recognize. A person is actually made up of two entirely separate ‘personalities.⁵’ Yet they each struggle to govern a single set of thought, speech and action. These are known in Tanya as the G-dly soul and the Animal soul. It is in the times when the two are unable to act in line with one another that dissonance and disconnect occurs, leaving a person feelings disoriented.

At the deepest pulse of the world lies Torah, and at the deepest point of the Torah lies Chassidus. The nature of a deep truth is that it runs true throughout⁶, which is to say, that the step by step process laid out in Tanya of how to return to G-d after a trauma to the soul must also apply as a step by step process of how a person can fully recover from PTSD.

The first and most pivotal step of the Teshuva experience lies in the word Teshuva itself. Tashuv- hei- return to Hashem⁷ (G-d.) Recognizing that one is simply returning to Hashem enables one to begin the process of reconnecting with who they truly are. In simple words, a paradigm shift. While traditional forms of healing require a person to first recognize their brokenness, and only from there can healing begin, Chassidus teaches us to recognize our inner unity. Many victims of PTSD define themselves by the trauma they endured. The first step requires a person to recognize that there is so much more to them then the singular event which they find themselves trapped within.

The next step in the Teshuva process asks a person to fix what they did⁸. When it comes to sinning, this means asking forgiveness of those which they had wronged. With trauma, this is forgiveness towards those who had wronged them. It is through this that a person gains true freedom from what they have gone through. Forgiveness, when sourced from humility, has the power to bring a person higher.

The next step in the process brings a person to giving. What is giving? Giving is taking something physical and using it for a G-dly purpose. In the times of the Holy Temple that would be done through bringing an animal as a sacrifice. Through taking something so physical and using it as a vehicle to be brought closer to Gd, they were able to recognize a G-dly Existence. However, after the destruction of Holy Temple, sacrifices were no longer permitted and fast days were instituted in their stead. They enabled a person to see past the physical element of life and bring their focus heavenward. Yet, as time passed and physical and spiritual levels decreased, fast days were unable to achieve the same goal. Chassidus then introduced the concept of giving Tzedakah (doing our part⁹) to do Teshuva¹⁰. Giving has the unique ability to take something physical and use it in recognition of G-dliness. Through giving to others we are able to strengthen ourselves. Someone who suffers from PTSD can easily find himself waging a war with his inner demons. Because this battle is so internal by nature, it is only through giving to someone else that he is able to stretch outside his comfort zone. This process is so revolutionary because therapy’s focus is entirely on the person themselves. Chassidus encourages us to break out of ourselves in the pursuit of finding ourselves.

The final step in this journey brings us back to our innate G-dly nature. It teaches one to continue moving forward, and to just take the next right action in line with his G-dly soul. Through recognizing that there is an entire part of himself that can connect with a G-d who is so much greater than he is, true healing is really possible. When a person is able to learn more, give more, pray more, and connect more, they are able to get to know their G-dly nature more and more. Traditional psychology teaches one to always act in line with the way they feel- chassidus teaches one how to act in line with who we are. While someone who suffers from PTSD may not always feel like doing the right thing- or anything for that matter- it is through concrete action that they are able to move forward in their lives.

Veterans, survivors, victims. But really, just people. As established, people with PTSD suffer from intense flashbacks, re-experience and anxieties. “How can I recover?” a victim, veteran, or survivor may ask. “Let me heal your symptoms,” says traditional medicine. “Let me heal your conscious mind”, says therapy. “Let me heal your energy flow,” says holistic medicine. But Chassidus, the secrets of this world, simply answers- “Return.” The wholeness which one seeks is within, and with the Teshuvah process as a guide, one can learn to peel away the broken pieces of a temporary moment, and return to their true, Godly self.

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