Kambo Commandos | Way of the Warrior | Can Frog Medicine Therapy Heal PTSD?
All animals including human beings have an innate, natural and necessary process for discharging fight or flight energy after a traumatic experience. When this venting process isn't completed properly, the concentrated stress can get stuck in the body’s physical, mental and energetic systems, much like a can of fizzy soda that has been shaken up and then left unopened. Post-traumatic stress disorder aka PTSD is a debilitating condition that affects 3.5% of the adult population and when left untreated can lead to a multitude of physical, mental and emotional problems.
PTSD can affect anyone who has been exposed to particularly stressful experiences. These can range from small altercations, accidents or childhood neglect to exposure to life-threatening events such as natural disasters, torture, sexual abuse or war.
While some face a traumatic situation once, certain lines of work such as within the military, police and fire services are exposed to prolonged stress consistently.
Over the last two years, it appears that PTSD has increased around the world and quadrupled in America, according to a KSS study.
Symptoms range from simple irritability, restlessness and mood disorders to crippling anxiety, violent seizures and depersonalisation. Most PTSD “victims” learn to live with their symptoms in the hope that their PTSD will fade away as life unfolds.
Some choose to pursue psychotherapy, while others turn to more alternative methods. Gentle modalities such as hypnosis, tapping and EMDR, have the potential to provide some relief if the person can find an appropriate therapist and has the income to attend countless sessions, but for the brave ones ready to take their health into their own hands, there may be an alternative and more drastic solution: Kambo.
Exhibiting some PTSD symptoms myself after buried memories of childhood sexual abuse were unearthed and as a writer specialising in the topic of mental health and personal development, I decided to question the most qualified expert on the topic: David Rees, both complex PTSD survivor and Founder of Planet Kambo Ltd, a UK based holistic Kambo healing service.
Full Interview: Can Frog Poison Therapy Heal PTSD?
What are the Symptoms of PTSD?
Trauma, including PTSD, gets imprinted in our nervous system, waiting to be eventually dealt with, processed and released. Whether that’d be expressed by irritability, trouble concentrating, recklessness, self-isolation, nightmares, numbing, dissociation or depersonalisation, those symptoms do not magically disappear. The more severe the symptoms are, the more they can affect daily life. Either way, PTSD either gets healed, or dismissed and piled up.
David Rees explains:
“To put it simply, imagine people with PTSD as computers that have a corrupt file suddenly land on their desktop that they chose to put in the trash can. The problem here is most people go about their lives and never empty that trash can.”
Kambo, the infamous frog medicine that has gained momentum over the last few years, expanded outside of amazonian tribal rituals and challenged modern medicine, is here to purge it away.
What does PTSD do to a person?
PTSD is a side effect of a natural defence mechanism that allows a human being to deal with extremely stressful, difficult and traumatic experiences. The fight, flight or freeze response is a completely automatic, involuntary and often lifesaving reaction to a threatening event. It allows a person to fight for their life, run away as fast as possible or shut down and disassociate. The problem arises when the threat has long since gone but the body is still stuck in this survival state.
This is where the shock trauma has become frozen or crystallised inside of the body if you will; and it can stay stuck in this way, acting like a blockage to the body’s own vent and release system.
The energy of the shock trauma itself and the discharging of associated repressed emotions such as anger and grief becomes completely disabled, leading to a build-up of negative physical, mental and emotional energy.
Kambo for anxiety, depression & mental health disorders
David shared the following quote regarding how Kambo can show you who you are as a part of its physical and emotional healing: