Groundbreaking PTSD Treatment for Survivors of Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Abuse
By: Lexie Smith, Survivor
I feel like I am finally truly living and not pining for death anymore after receiving a Stellate Ganglion Block to treat the physical components of post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. My life is finally my own now because I do not constantly have to accommodate my trauma. I can only express the freedom I have and feel through tears of joy and relief. I wasn’t sure if this would ever be possible, but it is, and I want everyone who is, or works with survivors to know about it.
What Causes PTSD?
The survival of sex trafficking or child abuse doesn’t end when the circumstances do. It is such an intense experience no one is designed to live through. Trauma often causes damage to brain structures and functions that create a domino of mental, physical, and emotional issues, which we have come to know as PTSD. Your understanding of this condition might vary or come with scenes of people living in warzones. In these intense moments, the warzone, witnessing or experiencing violence, transfers into the mind and body. The area affected the most is the Amygdala, which is a primary component of our life-saving fight or flight system. It turns on full speed and can’t shut off, making you the warzone.

What is it Like Living with PTSD?
Finding the will, energy, and tools to fight the war is what leads many to a shortened life. Whether by health complications attributed to PTSD or suicide, most are not privileged enough to have access to the resources they need to heal. There’s no one way PTSD affects people, and there’s a scale in severity based on life disruption. To give you an idea, here’s how I’ve experienced life with complex PTSD:
– At all ages and stages of life, it has disrupted my sleep with night terrors and insomnia. I spend hundreds of dollars a month on supplements to force my body to rest because I hated the side effects of pharmaceutical meds.
– My emotions are heightened and accelerated. What might be a “bummer” to others will feel catastrophic for me. I have had to learn how to manage these intense emotional swings. However, they still happen, and it takes a great deal of mental energy that I no longer have to give to other areas of my life I would like to.
– I can’t breathe well without actively meditating or exercising. I naturally am constantly holding my breath, which does not help in managing anxiety. This level of constant internal stress has also caused autoimmune dysfunction.
– General Anxiety Disorder is a companion to PTSD. It has often forced me to isolate or over-medicate to show up where I need to be. I can hardly be fully present because my brain is somehow always convinced that I am not safe regardless of my thoughts or surroundings.
– My attention and focus can feel impossible to maintain because there is a constant sense of overwhelming dread, not of anything in particular but of the possibilities in general. From the moment I wake up, I feel panic, and my thoughts look like a squirrel frantically zig-zagging back and forth across a road as a car approaches.
– My thoughts are berating and critical. It finds a way to guilt me back into constant multi-tasking and to overwork. At any time I can also experience a disturbing memory or flashback even without a direct trigger.
– Overstimulation to my environment because my nervous system is so on edge has often forced me into periods of isolation and depression. The simple sounds of living in a city have been challenging to cope with. I can’t even fully enjoy the company of the people I love most because a burst of laughter would jar my system into intense emotion or dissociation.
– Dissociating when I became too overwhelmed, even during important meetings, events, and my most recently scary incident, while driving. There’s no way to know when it will come on or how severely.
– Polyvictimization, being a victim of multiple violent crimes, is a common occurrence for survivors. Access to critical thinking centers and action centers gets limited due to an overactive survival center, i.e., the Amygdala.
– Suicidal ideation has always been a persistent struggle ever since I was 11 years old. Dying just seemed like my only way to ever having peace and freedom.
What is Stellate Ganglion Block?
I have done all the diets, therapies, supplements, oils, and experiences you can think of. Some have helped, but none as effectively as a simple outpatient procedure I recently had called Stellate Ganglion Block, or SGB for short. It’s is an FDA-approved procedure to block signals to the Amygdala, forcing it to rest finally. The rest of the Amygdala means that every other system can rest, and energy can be utilized by other areas of the brain and body. To my shock and amazement, it worked. Something finally gave me the rest and relief I’ve been desperate for.
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I have poured tens of thousands of dollars into trying to heal, yet all it took was a 15-minute procedure to gain the results I desperately needed. Immediately after the process, I felt a calm and peace in my body that I have never felt. Breathing was easy, complete, and deep. My autoimmune dysfunctions immediately started healing, and loud noises are just that. My mind and body are finally at peace, which means I can more fully be myself. For the first time, my body feels like my home. It never really did before because I was always fighting the way it was functioning with PTSD.
Please read Lexie’s full story here. Also, you can find more survivor stories on our blog, or find tips to prevent childhood sexual abuse and keep kids safe online. Please consider donating to help us further our mission to protect every child, everywhere.