77 – Case Study #4 Alicia – arestee shock, panic attacks and more

Posted on 7th October 2024

This episode dives into detail exploring a case study on herbal support following trauma. Learn about potential herbal and nutritional options for Alicia:

Alicia (she/her) was recently arrested. It was her first time and she was surprised by how awful it felt and how much it has affected her. She has been having panic attacks and feels absolutely terrified of being arrested again so she has withdrawn from several groups and now feels lonely and lost. She feels fine ‘otherwise’, is in good health, exercises a lot with her dog and grows her own vegetables. She has no allergies and is not on any medications.

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Transcript
Nicole:

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism podcast with your host, Nicole Rose from the

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solidarity apothecary.

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This is your place for all things plants and

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liberation.

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Let's get started.

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Hello.

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Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism

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podcast.

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I have got another PTSD case study for you.

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This is someone called Alicia, and I'll read the blurb out in a second.

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She is.

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Yeah.

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Like all of these case studies, kind of based on various people I've supported over the

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years, but is a hypothetical person to kind of respect sort of clients confidentiality.

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Yeah, I think you'll find it interesting.

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If you're a kind of herbalist student or just,

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you know, diy, self educating, I'd love to know.

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Yeah.

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What you think, what you think and how you're

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finding these episodes.

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Yeah.

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If it's just a load of, like, random, meaningless words to you, then I really

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encourage you to join the herbalism PTSD and traumatic stress course because I go into

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detail about all these different herbal actions and all the things and what they mean

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and the different nervous system states and kind of polyvagal theory terms.

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So, yeah, you can kind of.

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This is just a little snippet, if that makes

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sense.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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And the course is open until this coming

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Sunday.

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It's not going to be open for enrollment again

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until April or like March.

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April next year.

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I haven't decided yet.

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Yeah.

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I hope this is.

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I hope this is interesting and that you find

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some value.

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Yeah, I'll put a link in the show notes to

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sign up to the course.

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Just to emphasize again, really is no one

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turned away for lack of funds.

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Okay, thanks.

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Take care.

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Bye.

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Hello.

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Hi. Okay, so let's get stuck in.

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Alicia, she.

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Her.

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Was recently arrested.

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It was her first time, and she was surprised

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by how awful it felt and how much it affected her.

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She has been having panic attacks and feels absolutely terrified of being arrested again.

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So she has withdrawn from several groups and now feels lonely and lost.

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She feels fine otherwise, is in good health, exercises a lot with her dog, and grows her

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own vegetables.

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She has no allergies and is not on any

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medications.

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Okay.

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So, yeah, same kind of framework as before, looking at kind of ruling things out with

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medication allergies, sleep, nervous system state, digestion, nutrition and inflammation.

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So, yeah, fortunately for us, no known allergies, no medications in terms of sleep.

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Like, there's nothing shared.

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You know, maybe I should have put in a bit of

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detail, but let's just assume that she's sleeping fine.

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Okay, so, nervous system state.

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So this is obviously where her body is kind of

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expressing a lot of distress.

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So she's having panic attacks.

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She's in fight or flight, you know, which is contributing to panic attacks, but also some

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freeze.

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Right?

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So I talk about kind of polyvagal theory as its whole kind of whole loan lesson in the

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herbalism, PTSD, and traumatic stress course.

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But freeze is generally a state where there

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is, like, a lot of, like, background activation, but you're kind of frozen, whereas

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shutdown is kind of more that you're in parasympathetic.

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So it's technically this kind of rest and digest state, but actually you're shut down.

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So it's not a kind of, like, safe and social.

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Like, you're still, like, a strong trauma

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response.

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You know, she mentions feeling terrified.

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Like, you know, terror as a feeling is quite intense.

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So, yeah, I think there's probably a lot of kind of, like, residual activation from these

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experiences that needs to be kind of shifted.

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And, you know, in the herbalism, PTSD, and

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traumatic stress course, we talk not just about, like, herbs, obviously, but, you know,

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other.

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Other collective responses to traumatic

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stress, but also other tools as part of a kind of framework, a framework that introduces kind

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of resting and kind of releasing trauma.

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Like, as in, you know, you have to kind of get

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it out, process it, whether that's like talking to people or having kind of

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brainspotting or EDMR.

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And, you know, I talk about all the nuances of

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these tools and how they're kind of, you know, capitalized on by ****** states and armies and

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all this ****.

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But, you know, what can we take from them to

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kind of serve our struggles and serve our communities?

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Yeah, so it's kind of rest, release, renew.

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Like, how do we kind of recover and

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resistance, like, you know, how do we funnel this kind of, like, these processes into,

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like, organizing, like, ongoingly.

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But, yeah, I kind of.

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I think for Alicia, like, there's this.

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There is quite a kind of stuckness.

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Like, she's not someone who's been in, like, fight or flight long term.

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She's, like, having a response to, like, a kind of direct, acute event, and that's, like,

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quite significant.

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And I don't want to say it's easier because I

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think one off events, you know, like a bombing, or, like, not that bombing's like,

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sorry, that's a bad example.

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But I mean, like, for example, when I was a

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kid, I nearly died in an explosion.

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Like, my dad, Washington, in the Air Force,

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and, you know, he left us when I was four.

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But, like, in my early years, I had this kind

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of military child like, movement, you know, so we lived in Sri Lanka, and it was during the

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kind of civil war.

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Well, it's called a civil war, but this, you

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know, like, violence from the sri lankan state against kind of tamil communities.

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And there was a big bombing in Colombo, and my playgroup just.

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Yeah, like, blew up, basically, and we were, like, this whole skylight collapsed, and we

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were, like, under a bit of a cover, so we were okay.

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But it really kind of, like, froze me, if that makes sense in terms of, like, the teachers at

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the time, like, the kind of care assistant types, like, were saying that, like, all the

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other kids were screaming, and I just stood on the spot, and they were really, like, amazed

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by, like, wow, Nicole was so calm, and, you know, she was just kind of, like, quiet and

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then, you know, check in on people and stuff.

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And it's like, actually, no, I was having,

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like, a really intense freeze response, probably because, you know, like, whiteness,

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like, socializes you to, like, freeze, right? Rather than, you know, actually, like, express

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your distress, God forbid.

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Anyway, that's a real side note.

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But what I'm saying is, like, sometimes, like, a one off traumatic event, like a car

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accident.

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Like, it's kind of what the PTSD field has

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been designed for.

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Like, it's different to someone who, for

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example, doesn't have a baseline of safety because of, like, childhood neglect.

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Does that make sense? So, anyway, so with alicia, like, she's, you

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know, I don't want to assume anything about her background.

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Like, she's a completely hypothetical person, but she's had.

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She's got a very clear moment of being arrested.

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You know, like, arrests are traumatic because they're extremely immobilizing for the body.

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And then, you know, you're put in a cage.

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You know, you're at risk of kind of violence

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from the police in terms of, like, you know, being attacked or sexual violence or, you

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know, especially if you use drugs or, you know, you're a racialized person and, you

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know, you could literally be murdered by the police.

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I mean, the police murder all sorts of people.

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But anyway.

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Oh, my God.

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I'm going on so many side tangents, but what

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I'm saying is basically, like, she has, like, this clear moment that this has started, and,

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you know, things like EDMR could really help her.

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Like, in terms of shifting the activation.

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Like, you know, working with a somatic

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therapist, for example, like, finding out where that trauma is really stuck could be

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really powerful, you know, trauma releasing exercises I talk about in the course.

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Like, this kind of shaking could be really fantastic.

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Like, in terms of releasing, like, I think herbs will be great in terms of rebuilding

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safety for her.

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But, yeah, having this kind of support to

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process this event, I think, would be really important because she's obviously, like,

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completely immobilized by fearing it's going to happen again.

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And I think that's really common for people that experience state repression.

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It's not so much what they went through was so awful, even though most of the times it is,

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it's more that they, like, they just can't do it again, you know, like, it's effective.

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Right.

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At stopping people from being kind of

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politically active anyway.

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So, yeah, so, nervous system state.

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You know, I'm kind of drawing on some of the herbs in the panic attacks guide, which you

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can get for free on my website.

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So, yeah, we're thinking about, you know,

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herbs that really help in the moment of a panic attack.

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Like motherwort, for example, was, like, fantastic in those moments.

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Passion flower can be fantastic in those moments, especially, like, tincture, valerian.

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You know, I'm a little bit wary of Valerian in situations of depression, and I think that's

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where she's shifted to.

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But, yeah, but what we're trying to do with

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panic attacks is we're trying to reduce the likelihood of a panic attack by, like,

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reducing the overall kind of sympathetic charge that someone's experiencing through the

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day.

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So often panic attacks come once, like, it's

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kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back.

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Right? It's like, sorry, that's a really specious

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metaphor.

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But, like, yeah, it's kind of like the end of

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the line.

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So, yeah.

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In terms of how do we reduce that kind of activation throughout the day?

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Maybe we're thinking, like, chamomile, lavender, lemon balm.

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You know, lemon balm is wonderful because it's also uplifting and, you know, she's disclosed

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about feeling kind of depressed and lonely and lost.

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So I think lemon balm could be wonderful.

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Hawthorn, you know, it can be very

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strengthening.

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Panic attacks commonly come with a lot of

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heart palpitations and kind of, like, chest related pressure.

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So I think, yeah, hawthorne and rose, you know, rose is really wonderful, especially if

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you are feeling a bit kind of lonely and lost.

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I think it is like a real heart opener.

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And even though it is this kind of one big traumatic event, I think the consequences of

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that have been very tiring and taxing on her nervous system.

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So I would always want to draw on nerve tonics.

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So skull cap, which I just bang on about skullcap all the time.

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But that could really help kind of reduce this charge for her in the evening.

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She doesn't say when she's been having panic attacks mostly.

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Betany is really fantastic for nightmares.

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And I know she hasn't said about sleep, but I

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associate Betany with, like, fear.

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Like, if someone's in that kind of, like,

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state where, like, fear is, like, affecting their choices, you know, like, a lot of

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survivors of, like, sexual violence or intimate partner violence, like, there's a lot

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of, like, fear there because of this, like, daily ******* scanning of, like, a threat.

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Like, am I in danger today? And I think that is quite different to someone

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who maybe feels like, for example, with prison.

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Like, I don't feel like I'm constantly at risk of going back to prison right now.

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I did when I was on license in, like, the first couple of years coming out of prison, I.

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But now I don't like so much.

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Whereas I think if you've survived something

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that's, like, a little bit more not mundane in the sense of, like, the experience is mundane,

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because, of course, trauma is never ******* mundane, but I mean, in the sense of, like,

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something where you're gonna be seeing, like, daily triggers reminding you of that

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situation, I think that's gonna carry, like, a bit more of a, like, harrowing presence of,

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like, fear.

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So, for example, if you've had, like, a

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traumatic past with, like, using heroin or something and you've got all your memories of

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where you've picked up from where you've used from, where you've seen your friend overdose,

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like, you know, like, where you've been in hospital, and you've got, like, kind of

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constant triggers around you.

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I think for Alicia, like, her whole world has

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been kind of organizing, and now she's, you know, what gave her probably a big quality of

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life and passion and purpose is now turned into a threat.

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Right? So, yeah, so I think Bettany is really great

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for that kind of, like, fear stuff.

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Also, like, St. John's war is really fantastic

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for that because it is obviously, you know, uplifting, and it has this kind of

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antidepressant action, but it's also really fantastic for sort of frayed nerves.

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And I think the more sort of frayed our nerves are, the more frightened and sensitive and,

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like, hyperactive we've hyperactivated we feel.

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So, yeah, St. John's wort could be good.

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And also, when she's saying she's feeling kind

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of lonely and lost, I think St. John's Walt is really fantastic for that kind of, like,

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lingering pain and depression, I wouldn't want to give her any kind of stimulating or warming

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adaptogens, like things like ashwagandha, because of like, the heat signs, like the

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panic attacks.

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Milky oats.

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Again, absolutely perfect.

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Like nourishing, soothing, calming.

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Yeah, I think that would be really good.

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And then.

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Yeah, I'm not sure about stimulating nerve ions because I think she does have a lot of

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heat.

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And this is when it gets, like, quite

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complicated and challenging because she has a mixture of, like, kind of depression because

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she's lost a lot of her purpose and confidence.

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But actually she's still highly activated because of the panic attacks and the anxiety.

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So I would be quite nervous of like, putting more heat there, if that makes sense.

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But, yeah, I think St. John's fort is kind of.

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Yeah, nice.

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It's warming, but it's also cooling.

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I know, like herbal energetics.

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It just probably sounds like absolutely nonsense to people, but, yeah.

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Okay, so digestion, she said nothing to report, hopefully.

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She's got a kind of, you know, good, steady, you know, childhood of good health and stuff,

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nutrition.

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You know, she's having organic vegetables, but

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she is talking about the kind of impacts.

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You know, we are thinking about the impacts of

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fight or flight again, b six and just the B vitamins in general.

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B twelve, especially magnesium and vitamin D.

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Yeah.

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And then in terms of inflammation, like, there is, like, I've mentioned it a bit already,

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this kind of depression tendency, like going on for her.

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So like lemon balm or St. John's wort would be great.

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And it says she exercises a lot.

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And, you know, I talk about movement and stuff

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in the herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course.

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Like, exercise is interesting because people really think that it makes you really healthy.

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But actually a lot of exercise can be incredibly, like, depleting for people and,

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you know, put them in fight or flight a lot.

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Like, you know, it's a whole thing.

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I talk about healthism in the course, drawing on kind of knowledge from communities that

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have been working around disability, justice and kind of challenging, you know, our kind of

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perceptions of health, which, you know, really sold to us as kind of capitalist mindset.

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So I feel like I'm going on a lot of tangents.

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I don't know why, but, yeah, so, yeah, for

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Alicia, I would be.

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Yeah, I would be giving her in kind of

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summary, I would be definitely giving her support in terms of a panic attack blend to

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kind of help her in the moment, you know, increase their intensity.

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And I would be supporting her in terms of like, toning down that nervous system

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activation.

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And then, yeah, I would be trying to address

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the trauma experiences.

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So, you know, whether that's kind of

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counseling or EDMR or trauma releasing exercises, stuff like that.

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And, you know, maybe she could be supported to kind of organize in like, a less direct action

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y way, like right now if that's too overwhelming and potentially harmful for her.

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I know this is, like, real ******* privileged when you get to choose what kind of

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organization you do.

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But I also think it is worth naming that it is

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possible for not everyone to be doing the, like, arrestable ****, like, all the time.

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And, you know, like, it's also really ******* important to do other stuff.

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You know, she knows how to grow vegetables.

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Like, maybe she could get involved in some

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sort of, you know, community food project or something.

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Or, you know, do defendant support, you know, support other people going through it or, you

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know, do, like, animal rescue staff, like, she mentions her dog.

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Like, I think, yeah, just kind of giving her the options that there's meaning and vitality

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in life and lots of options to resist that don't have to put her right in the line of the

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cops.

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But yeah, I know that that's not always an

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option for everyone, but I just think for her, if it is an option, then that could just give

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her nervous system the kind of respite till she is ready again to potentially take more

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risks or do direct action or whatever.

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So, yeah, I think that what I've got to say

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about Alisha.

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Let me know your thoughts.

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I am posting these on Instagram, so I'm also enjoying people's comments as well.

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So, yeah, check that out.

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And just shameless reminder.

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Herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress.

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Course, not much longer.

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Final push.

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Now.

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I've got some, like, energy back to push it for this last week, and I'm excited to kind of

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close it down again for the winter.

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And I'll open it up again next kind of march,

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April, hopefully.

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So, yeah, please sign up if you're interested.

Nicole:

No one turned away for a lack of funds and all that malarkey.

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Be okay.

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Thanks so much.

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Cheers.

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Bye.

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Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline herbalism podcast.

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You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the

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show@solidarityapothecary.org.

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podcast.