Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP<\/em><\/p>\n I have seven PTSD cases in my office right now at different stages.\u00a0 Being hit by a car while working highway, a car accident with the leg shattered, a car accident during a chase, a guy stabbed in the eye by an Person with Mental Illness (PMI), a female punched squarely in the face losing teeth by an PMI, a guy who went through The depression and anxiety are all expected, but the amount of balance and vestibular problems is a little bit devastating.\u00a0 I have a thing in my office where I do a brief neurologic test when someone comes in with PTSD.\u00a0 I make them stand on one foot and count to ten which most can do.\u00a0 Then I have them close their eyes and stand on one foot.\u00a0 Everyone loses their balance a little, but most people can recover.\u00a0 When a person has PTSD, they can try and try and there is no recovery.\u00a0 It\u2019s scary, and by the way I was the person who had open-heart surgery mentioned above and it has taken me a year to correct my balance from my mild case of PTSD.\u00a0 So, let\u2019s spend this article taking a closer look at vestibular effect of PTSD.<\/span><\/p>\n Endolymphatic Hydrops is the medical term for the type of vestibular problems I find in PTSD.\u00a0 Now that sounds like a mouthful, but really it is not.\u00a0 Hydrops means an excess of fluid.\u00a0 Lymphatic means it is in the fluid other than blood in the body.\u00a0 And the prefix endo means inside or within.\u00a0 Medical words are just combinations of easier words.\u00a0 So it is the fluid in the ear that we are talking about and it is in excess, so it built up a lot of pressure.\u00a0 Vertigo, dizziness, spatial disorientation, and vision disturbance are all symptoms of vestibular dysfunction. \u00a0PTSD has been linked to dysfunction in the vestibular system, located in the inner ears, which processes information about motion, equilibrium and spatial orientation. In other words, it is the system that allows you to stand and balance on one foot with your eyes closed.<\/span><\/p>\n Damage or dysfunction in the vestibular system inhibits a person\u2019s ability to rebalance the body during something as simple as walking or standing on one foot. Some of our PTSD patients appear to be walking on ice or on a moving ship while making the trip down the hallway to my office. \u00a0And the florescent lights seem to bother them a lot more.<\/span><\/p>\n Now let\u2019s take it further.\u00a0 Vestibular dysfunction and its symptoms like vertigo and such, tend to lead toward not feeling normal, \u201cbrain fog,\u201d headaches, eye strain, and even psychological disorders like depression and anxiety, even without PTSD.\u00a0 If we add to that a little impact trauma as in head impact or impact on the ears like shooting a gun or an explosion that is a lot to survive for a tiny little canal in the ear.\u00a0 So even without PTSD, the ear mess-ups can create problems, but when you add the PTSD, it can be devastating. \u00a0Remember stress on the body is cumulative, so the stress on the body of the incident, plus the psychological stress may be tough on an ear canal that is less that 1\/3 of an inch in diameter.<\/span><\/p>\n It is of great concern to police leaders to assess whether their officers are physically fit for duty after a diagnosis of PTSD. Police officers must be well coordinated and balanced during routine and non-routine acts of duty. Wrestling with a suspect, handcuffing, utilizing pepper spray, firing a gun and pursuing a suspect on foot or in a car all require use of the vestibular system. These situations trigger the brain to produce natural stress in order to push the body to optimal performance until the event comes to a conclusion. The stress and anxiety of these situations may trigger the symptoms of PTSD and therefore confound vestibular dysfunction. Imagine an officer suffering from vertigo linked to PTSD when his or her gun is drawn. The sensation of spinning or dizzy spells associated with vertigo greatly diminishes the officer\u2019s ability to defend him or herself and increases the risk of casualties.<\/span><\/p>\n Police officers involved in traumatic experience are often sent back to work too soon or when inappropriate. \u00a0Many of them should never work again and go on disability.\u00a0 Imagine an officer defending oneself with brain fog and a vestibular problems on the witness stand.\u00a0 That is bad news and a major civil lawsuit waiting to happen.\u00a0 Even working light duty and being exposed to constant florescent lights can put an officer over the edge.\u00a0 The good news is vestibular function can come back.\u00a0 The bad news is it doesn\u2019t always occur right away, and the effects may never go away.\u00a0 How do you diagnose Endolymphatic Hydrops?\u00a0 Well there are not a lot of tests for it.\u00a0 The report of symptoms is important, the observations of the doctor or psychologists are very important, but the most important thing is to know to look for it.\u00a0 All the officer may report is he is a little dizzy occasionally and has trouble with light or gets a headache now and then.\u00a0 Believe that or not, the average person, friend or boss may be the best person to say let\u2019s get your vestibular functions checked out.<\/span><\/p>\n It is time to take a new look at PTSD\u2019s disabling effects related to vestibular dysfunction. \u00a0\u00a0Vestibular dysfunction has been reported in as many as 30% of people after suffering a mild traumatic brain injury according to vestibular.org. \u00a0You should always exercise strong caution when putting an officer back to work after PTSD or vestibular problems.<\/span><\/p>\n Dancing has always been one of my favorite activities.\u00a0 I mean I was a drummer so I had a sense of rhythm, and I could move my feet with a beat.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t always look good, because I am just not a look good kind of guy, but I was in rhythm.\u00a0 After my heart surgery I found myself with two left feet, actually it was more like trying to move on stilts that were two different sizes.\u00a0 Heart surgery was a very traumatic experience in my life. \u00a0(My parents both died very young of heart problems, Dad was only 45).\u00a0 Everyone I talked to who went through open heart seems to have had some PTSD symptoms, in fact there is some good research showing some people get PTSD after just a heart attack, many after surgery.\u00a0 I realized I was suffering from PTSD, but not until I saw the imbalance during my physical activity. My own battle with PTSD and vestibular dysfunction on top of my experience with officers suffering as patients has inspired me to speak out on the subject.\u00a0 It leads to the old expression \u201cwhite men (with PTSD) can\u2019t dance.\u201d\u00a0 I think that\u2019s the expression, or something like that!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Please share this article from down below.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Please join the email list on the top of the sidebar and you can get these sent to your email.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Come back regularly for more updated blogs on police psychology<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police Psychology | PTSD Part 1:\u00a0 What You Hear is What You Get Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP I have seven PTSD cases in my office right now at different stages.\u00a0 Being hit by a car while working highway, a car accident with the leg shattered, a car accident during a chase, a guy stabbed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17168885],"tags":[17168797,17168831,17168905],"class_list":["post-1865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress","tag-police-psychology","tag-police-stress","tag-vestibular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5895,"url":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5895","url_meta":{"origin":1865,"position":0},"title":"Police Psychology | PTSD 4: Flashbacks","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"May 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | PTSD 4:\u00a0 Flashbacks Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.\u00a0 ABPP \u00a0 Of course, you are going to think I\u2019ve lost it on this one, but it shows some merit.\u00a0 And it makes some sense logically.\u00a0 Researchers in England\u00a0 say that flashbacks from traumatic events can be moderated through playing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Police Stress"","block_context":{"text":"Police Stress","link":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168885"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tetris-md.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3148,"url":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=3148","url_meta":{"origin":1865,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | PTSD 2: Crash and Burn","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | PTSD 2:\u00a0 Crash and Burn by Gary S. Aumiller, PH.D.\u00a0 ABPP Have you ever had the chance to be in a drunk driving simulation or even play a game on a drunk driving simulator?\u00a0 You try to keep the car on a straight path, but it keeps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Police Stress"","block_context":{"text":"Police Stress","link":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168885"},"img":{"alt_text":"gears in head","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/gears-in-head-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5317,"url":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5317","url_meta":{"origin":1865,"position":2},"title":"Police Psychology | PTSD 3: Car Accidents","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"February 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | PTSD 3:\u00a0 Car Accidents by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP \u00a0 Of course, they\u2019re driving around 24 hours a day, non-stop.\u00a0 The problem is there are other people on the road.\u00a0 The cops have lights on the car and fancy writing, but that just attracts people who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Police Stress"","block_context":{"text":"Police Stress","link":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168885"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/car-accident-md.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":630,"url":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=630","url_meta":{"origin":1865,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology | What You Can Learn from a 2-Year Old","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"August 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | What You Can Learn from a 2-Year Old \u00a0 In police psychology, I find a lot of officers who just can\u2019t do it. There are very few things that toddlers know how to do better than adults. For instance, although sometimes when I\u2019m driving I encounter cars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Effort"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Effort","link":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168880"},"img":{"alt_text":"Police Stress, women saying no","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/woman-no-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3979,"url":"https:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=3979","url_meta":{"origin":1865,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology | An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure Robert John Zagar PhD MPH and Brandon Northern Current ways of finding challenges like trauma and stress miss 61% of at-risk. 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open heart surgery, a guy who went through a shooting and explosion, I am a lucky guy to see so much of one kind of case at one time, I guess.\u00a0 All have been depressed, questioning the meaning of life, think life is unfair, all have anxiety, and all have balance problems.\u00a0 You might literally say my patients are bouncing off the walls, as sometimes they are walking like they are on a ship in a rolling sea down my narrow hallways.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Ears Have It<\/h2>\n
Be Aware<\/h2>\n