 A woman has shared how she manages her PTSD with primal screaming – even when that means scaring unsuspecting members of the public. Cristina Alciati, 54, a fitness coach from Milan, who now lives in Essex, started getting panic attacks that felt as though they were happening '24/7′ as a result of severe PTSD. She suffered major trauma and was left looking for ways to cope. She said: 'For weeks and months, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't think. 'I was just really scared of everything, even things that nobody should be scared of. Like I'd see a leaf moving the wrong way, and just like a racehorse, I'd jump ahead. 'It was literally ruining my life, because I couldn't really function like a normal person anymore.' Cristina said that she went on to seek professional help from the NHS, and that's when she was diagnosed with PTSD – but unfortunately, getting help was not a straightforward process. 'I think it started in childhood,' she said, looking back. 'I was raised in a very violent environment, and the surroundings that I grew up in meant that I was on edge all the time from a very young age. 'But it wasn't until more bad things happened that it came to a head. Then it was an adventure trying to get help.' Cristina went to her doctor, but was unable to get help on the NHS, so then reached out to a mental health charity – but it had a long waiting list. After nine months, she started counselling – something she said was 'worth every minute of the wait.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video While Cristina said that she benefited from therapy, she also had to come up with her own additional solutions to deal with her trauma. She turned to art, Photoshop, parkour and singing to help, but it wasn't until she found primal screaming that something clicked. 'I met my friend Jo Ellul, who used to sing in a band called Terrorvision that were quite famous in){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A woman has shared how she manages her PTSD with primal screaming – even when that means scaring unsuspecting members of the public.
Cristina Alciati, 54, a fitness coach from Milan, who now lives in Essex, started getting panic attacks that felt as though they were happening ’24/7′ as a result of severe PTSD.
She suffered major trauma and was left looking for ways to cope.
She said: ‘For weeks and months, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t think.