In this episode of the Just Listen mental health podcast, host Juliette Sivertsen speaks with sexual abuse survivor Tamara Waugh and her experience with post traumatic stress disorder, and dealing with multiple mental health diagnoses. Tamara is also the creator of the gratitude movement called ‘The Happiness Experiment.’

Tamara explains how PTSD can affect a person’s daily life, the pros and cons of hypervigilance, dealing with trust issues after abuse and the difficulties of navigating a sexual relationship when one party has trauma in their history. She also talks about how she used meditation and gratitude to transform her life after a drug overdose.

Tamara’s friend, psychologist Dr Paul Wood joins Juliette at the end of this podcast to talk about how he offers support to Tamara, why we need to stop trying to ‘fix’ a person when they’re struggling, and what to say (or not say) instead.

Funded by the Mental Health Foundation of NZ, Like Minds Like Mine, supported by NZME.

You can follow host Juliette Sivertsen on social media through her Twitter at @j_sivertsen

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