The inquest into the 2015 Tunisia beach attack has made headlines recently. But while the apparent negligence of the security forces was the focus, the post traumatic stress suffered by many was not mentioned.
However, the BBC highlighted the instance of one survivor, Allen Pembroke, who has had the same nightmare 50 times since that fateful day on 26 June 2015 on the beach in the Tunisian resort of Port El Kantaoui near Sousse.
In his recurring dream, Mr Pembroke sees the Islamist gunman Seifeddine Rezgui in the midst of his shooting rampage, targeting British and other European holidaymakers at the Imperial hotel. Mr Pembroke is trying to comfort a badly-injured British woman, when suddenly he realises Rezgui has returned to the beach and is standing behind them, about to open fire.
Somehow he manages to grab the high-powered assault rifle and turn it so it is pointing into the air. It is then that Mr Pembroke wakes up in a sweat after lashing out.
Almost two years after the attack, which he and his wife witnessed close-up, they are still struggling to overcome the trauma, despite destroying all photographs, documents and other memorabilia from the trip.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), says the NHS, is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. Someone with PTSD often relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks, and may experience feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. They may also have problems sleeping and find concentrating difficult. These symptoms are often severe and persistent enough to have a significant impact on the person’s day-to-day life.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) says it is a normal part of the human protection system to experience a fight-or-flight response when there is real and present danger.
“To experience prolonged flight-or-flight creates feelings of anxiety and stress,” says the NCH. “It is often rooted in a previous experience that triggered fear or in a general anxiety and worry about your situation at home or at work.”
While anti-depressant drugs are often used to treat PTSD, clinical hypnotherapy is one of the ‘talking therapies’ recommended to treat the disorder and it has the advantage of being quick and non-invasive.
Says the NCH: “Modern hypnotherapy has become the most dramatically effective short-term therapy developed to date, which means that many problems and issues can be transformed dramatically using hypnotherapy.”
During a hypnotherapy session, the therapist can help assess the person’s anxiety, identifying the root of stress or anxiety. Once a person learns to recognise stress triggers, they can learn to introduce new, alternative behaviour when experiencing a stress trigger and, while in the hypnotic state, be better able to see alternative perspectives and behaviours in stressful situations.
“In essence, someone can learn to re-programme thoughts and actions while in a trance state to help develop new behaviour in the waking conscious state,” says the NCH.
The NCH is the UK‟s largest independent, not-for-profit governing body for hypnotherapy practitioners. The high standards it requires for membership ensures that all of its therapists must have achieved a certain level of training and demonstrated competence in practice. In addition all members are bound by a strict Code of Ethics & Practice, which includes the requirement for Professional Indemnity Insurance.