Nightmares

PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress DISORDER.... is it possible to experience post-traumatic stress without it being "full-blown" PTSD? Thanks. Nightmares are a diagnostic criteria, but the flash backs involved in PTSD occur when a person is awake. The person has the experience of mentally and emotionally reliving the traumatic event in the present. There are a number of other criteria which must be met to have a PTSD diagnosis. A quick search of the web will provide you with the complete diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diseases and Disorders (affectionately known as the DSM).

On that criteria alone, I wouldn't venture to say you have PTSD. More likely you are describing someone with a more common, short-lived condition called Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Disturbance of Emotion and Conduct. This can include a chronic form but typically resolves in 6 months to a year of the event, depending on treatment and the client's support system and resources.

Anxiety is the result of putting ourselves into the future and anticipating bad things. Mindfulness is a philosophe re-discovered by Jon Kabat-Zinn that suggests that if we can live in this moment, this one... where we are living and breathing, we can moderate our anxiety and depression considerably. Mindfulness is a simple concept but a challenge to perfect. Here is a program by Dr. Kabat-Zinn where he describes the approach. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvXFxi2ZXT0 Look for his book "Full Catastrophe Living" or "Mindfulness for Beginners."

Using yoga breathing at the time of sleep as well as stretching can reduce muscle tension and the levels of excitatory hormones in your body that could be involved.

Since I'm not a doctor or herbologist, I can't comment on medications or herbal remedies. Check with your doctor before beginning any herbal or natural remedies as they can interact with medications you take and cause serious consequences. I also suffer an anxiety disorder and have had to address this myself. When I started to meditate I felt a world of difference with the stress and actually felt a power within myself. On my first breast cancer surgery I was meditating before I went under and woke up so calm. Whenever I have to have my mammogram waiting for the radiologist to tell me the results I also meditate and take deep breaths to calm myself down. It really does work. Even taking deep breaths calms the mind.