# What are some events that are basically 'anti-PTSD/anti-trauma' events **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754 "2026-05-03T18:31:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/21 "2026-05-06T02:29:46Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > have no idea if there are things that permanently up-regulate the parasympathetic nervous system, (snip) That would be the Holy Grail of trauma therapy but no one I know has found it, or rather they haven’t found a way to reliably replicate it. Marsha Lineham was in the middle of a period of deep disparity had a deeply religious experience which seems to have transformed her. She had been suicidal and felt beyond help, but the experience helped her turn her life around. She went on to found dialectical behavioral therapy and programs for patients with borderline disorder. The therapy emphasis learning skills which help patients to learn to calm down, manage emotions and such. However, the therapy isn’t a one time event and it’s interesting that Lineham didn’t attempt to duplicate religious experiences to help patients. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/22 "2026-05-06T13:32:29Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > That would be the Holy Grail of trauma therapy but no one I know has found it, or rather they haven’t found a way to reliably replicate it. > > Marsha Lineham was in the middle of a period of deep disparity had a deeply religious experience which seems to have transformed her. She had been suicidal and felt beyond help, but the experience helped her turn her life around. > > She went on to found dialectical behavioral therapy and programs for patients with borderline disorder. The therapy emphasis learning skills which help patients to learn to calm down, manage emotions and such. > > However, the therapy isn’t a one time event and it’s interesting that Lineham didn’t attempt to duplicate religious experiences to help patients. Thats interesting, I didn’t know the founder of DBT had that background. FWIW, people with conditions like PTSD and BPD have far higher rates of smoking cigarettes than the general public. A big reason is because cigarettes contain nicotine, and nicotine activates the parasympathetic nervous system so it helps them regulate their nervous system. Using electricity to stimulate the vagus nerve through things like tragus stimulation or a vagal implant can also increase activity of the PNS. Those are used for various mental health conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/23 "2026-05-09T16:31:55Z")
Come to think of it, I can think of one case where a single incident can suddenly and permanently change mindset for the better: When you have a phobia, and you’re suddenly exposed to the thing you’re phobic to, in a sufficient intensity, and then nothing bad happens afterwards, that can sometimes break the phobia. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/24 "2026-05-10T10:23:46Z")
I ran across this article which is mostly on-point: > **[One dose of psilocybin changes the human brain, leading to higher entropy](https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-dose-psilocybin-human-brain-higher.html)** > > Researchers at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London have shown that a single dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, causes likely anatomical brain changes that last for up to a month after the experience. I’m not competent to say whether this is a real discovery or more “No shit, Sherlock” me too paper mill research. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/25 "2026-05-11T04:15:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When you have a phobia, and you’re suddenly exposed to the thing you’re phobic to, in a sufficient intensity, and then nothing bad happens afterwards, that can sometimes break the phobia. There is a type of therapy called exposure therapy, in which people get slowly exposed to what they have a phobia to, but the suddenly exposed with sufficient intensity usually doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/26 "2026-05-11T10:44:14Z")
I’ll buy “usually doesn’t work”, but it does at least sometimes work. It happened to me, with house centipedes, when one fell from the ceiling and landed on my hand. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/27 "2026-05-11T11:47:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Trauma is, by its nature, abrupt and intermittent. Tranquility is, by its nature, sustained and consistent. There is no sudden event that can trigger tranquility. It takes years. Took me 3 wingbeats. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/28 "2026-05-11T13:04:43Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > There is a type of therapy called exposure therapy, in which people get slowly exposed to what they have a phobia to, but the suddenly exposed with sufficient intensity usually doesn’t work. And it’s a bad idea to treat [more than one at a time](https://ifunny.co/picture/the-far-side-by-gary-larson-thy-professor-gallagher-and-iZjAZY9f8). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/29 "2026-05-11T13:09:02Z")
It’s not a recommended therapy. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/30 "2026-05-11T14:52:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > but I have read countless accounts from people saying it basically re-set or re-directed their whole lives I am one. Psychedelics sent me on a way different path than I planned. Not precisely a “successful” path, but I doubt I would be a software engineer without the interesting effects of LSD, and later a variety of other substances of varying levels of legality. I quite firmly believe the mental challenges “opened my mind”, and at the very least taught me that there are alternative ways to think. My plan was to be an English teacher, just like my mum. Instead, as in the cliché, I turned on, tuned in, dropped out. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/31 "2026-05-11T15:15:11Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > A good drug trip. A good drug trip on either hallucinogens like LSD, or on empathogens like MDMA can cause a permanent change for the better in the user. But many trips can make things permanently worse, or have no long term effect. I can attest to this. I have had very, very bad trips (massive paranoia) but many good ones, which have very positively affected me (particularly the combination of both MDMA and LSD) On the whole, I consider my experiences as a net positive; but I am fairly experienced. Both chemicals are, as my friend group say, “not for tourists”. Having had a bad trip on MDMA, of all substances, I’d not recommend either for the average user. OTOH, MDMA and various related chemicals are still legal in my native Zimbabwe, because the mills of justice neither grind finely, nor move particularly fast… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754/32 "2026-05-12T01:37:49Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > It’s not a recommended therapy. Oh, sure, there’s a big difference between “works sometimes” and “is a wise idea to try it deliberately”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-events-that-are-basically-anti-ptsd-anti-trauma-events/1029754.md?page=1)