Staff
Life’s challenges can have long-lasting negative effects on a person, and may even result in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Starting this Friday, women dealing with everything from loss of a loved one to long-term abuse, can find support at a new women’s PTSD class hosted by Sweet Home Christian Church.
“Church is not meant to be a social club, it is meant to meet the needs of the community,” said Stacey Houtz, who is leading the group.
The idea for a PTSD class started about five weeks ago when two men came to Pastor Dale Robinson about PTSD, he said. The men were dealing with the effects from being in Afghanistan.
They thought having a class would be a great idea, “but as it evolved, we realized that PTSD for men coming back from combat is one thing and PTSD that women suffer, the majority of them, will be for another reason,” Robinson said.
Having a class of this nature with both men and women would probably be awkward, he added.
They decided to offer a women’s group and then add a men’s group later.
“This is generally for women who are struggling from some kind of trauma in their life and the group is just there to help them heal,” Robinson said. “Let them know that someone cares about them.”
Houtz experienced long-term abuse and, as a result, has PTSD.
“I am like the old commercial,” Houtz said with a laugh. “Not only am I the president, but I’m also a client.”
Because of her background, she knows the struggles other women may be going through – their thought process, the anxiety, the physical symptoms.
“What has brought me through my struggles is my faith in God,” Houtz said. “That’s basically what this class is going to lean towards – it’s Bible-based. It’s what does the word of God says on how can we get through what we’ve been through.”
While Houtz will have planned lessons, she is going adjust things, depending on the needs of the people in the class.
Over the years Houtz has been through therapy and in groups like the one she will start leading this week. She’s also led Bible studies. It was one of Robinson’s messages that prompted her to put this class together.
“I put a challenge out in a message for people to understand how we’re supposed to try to make a difference in the community,” Robinson said. “Stacey was one of the first people to come up and say ‘I want to be a part of this.’ And I have another gentleman in the church who came forward and he wants to help the men. It’s just nice when you can preach a message about helping and you can get people to rise up.”
Robinson and Houtz both said PTSD is most often associated with men, veterans in particular, but women who have been through traumatic circumstances go through the same sort of symptoms.
When asked about those, Houtz reached for her notebook.
“I write things down a lot because one of the issues with PTSD is memory. And cognitive stuff, so I lean on my notes,” she said.
The disorder is not curable, but it’s treatable with help, Houtz said.
“The symptoms usually start about three months after a traumatic event, and you have what they call triggers,” she said. “Sometimes you can be in a situation that reminds you of the trauma that you had, but also, just being under general stress can bring out memories and anxiety and that sort of thing from the trauma. So, you know, it’s a landmine.”
Sometimes a person with PTSD will have severe emotional distress or even physical reactions to triggers.
“I have had chest pains so bad, I thought I was having a heart attack,” Houtz said. “It was anxiety.”
Houtz suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes widespread pain throughout the body.
She listed difficulty controlling emotions, guilt and shame, and periods of losing attention or concentration as some possible reactions.
“They call it disassociation,” Houtz said. “I mean, where you can practically hide in a corner of a room in your mind to get out of the situation.”
Houtz said she is the third generation in her family that has gone through abuse. A lot of women suffer in silence she said, because of the shame factor.
“They don’t talk to family and friends,” Houtz said. “Mom’s relatives didn’t know how Dad was. We kept everything within the family until I was in my early 20s and I finally broke away.”
She will share her story during the first class but isn’t going to require anyone else to do the same.
“They don’t have to share their past or their background,” Houtz said. “That’s not a forced issue. It’s not like AA, where you’ve got to stand up and say ‘I’m so and so; I’m an alcoholic’ type of thing. You only share what you want to share.”
Whatever is said or done in the classroom will stay within the walls of that classroom.
“That gives people a sense of safety in the sense that they can reveal what they want to reveal but nothing is going to be forced on anybody,” Houtz said.
The class will be Bible study-oriented, she said. There will be some lecturing but also activities and sometimes homework.
“It’s going to be geared toward the people who show up,” Houtz said. “So anything we do is going to be adjusted. It’s from the standpoint that I have (been) and still am where they are. So together we’re going to go forward.”
WHAT: Women’s PTSD Class
WHEN: 6 to 7 p.m. on Fridays, starting May 20
WHERE: Sweet Home Christian Church, 1825 Long St., in the education building.
WHO: Open to the community and free of charge.
WHY: The purpose of the class is to offer PTSD victims a safe place to heal.
CONTACT: Stacey at (541) 367-0772.