Use of Narrative to Promote Alternative Treatment Methods for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Semi-Self-Portrait

Storytelling serves to communicate, in a non‐threatening way, new ideas that can inspire people to action. When done well, a story will draw readers in and help them create a reality where there is no division between the version of the storyteller and the reader. It is when the two stories become one in the reader’s mind that the greatest chance exists for change and action. In telling my story it is my desire to enable action not only by those suffering the effects of mild Traumatic Brain Injury or Post Traumatic Stress, but by those who love, live, work with or supervise them. My story is meant to help overcome the cultural bias that prevents one from seeking mental health assistance and to dispel the assumption of heresy with regard to alternative treatment modalities. By exposing my own pain and learning, both physical and mental, I hope to show others a pathway out of the false reality the brain can create in its self‐defense.