(3/5) “Trauma causes the brain to malfunction. During a traumatic experience, memories cannot be processed correctly. So a person with PTSD is still carrying those traumatic experiences around in their body. Because those experiences were never filed away into the ‘past tense,’ the brain continues to operate as if the trauma is happening in the ‘present tense.’ It’s like a computer with a program that’s running constantly in the background. The idle is way too high. And it’s an exhausting way to live. So those memories need to be revisited and processed. And we have an amazing way of doing that. It’s called EMDR. I won’t explain it here, but it works. It takes away symptoms. It won’t turn you into a yogi who sits on the beach. But it will take away panic attacks. It will take away insomnia. And it will take away suicidal idealizations. We aren’t changing anyone. But we are getting people back to their best self.”

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Gerard Ilaria is the head clinician at Headstrong Project. He has provided one-on-one treatment for most of the veterans featured in this series. Many of those veterans credit him with saving their life. For the rest of the day, we are holding a fundraiser to help Gerard and Headstrong in their mission to heal veterans with PTSD. The organization’s budget last year was only $750,000, so a small donation can go a long way. Together we can significantly magnify Gerard’s impact: http://bit.ly/2bQe8cR