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Kathy Griffin admitted the fall-out from her controversial Donald Trump photoshoot contributed to her Complex PTSD.
Kathy Griffin has complex PTSD
The outspoken comedian – who battled lung cancer in 2021 and recently underwent vocal cord surgery – saw a string of shows cancelled and she was dropped from her annual co-hosting job on CNN on New Year’s Eve after she took part in a shoot with photographer Tyler Shields in which she posed with a bloody decapitated head resembling the then-US President in 2017, and she’s admitted the scandal was a factor in the “crippling” anxiety she’s experienced.
She told People magazine about the “bizarre and awful” feeling of being cancelled: “I feel like I lost my voice creatively. And then I got cancer, and I literally lost my voice. And honestly, I think that’s kind of the PTSD.”
Before her diagnosis, Kathy was gripped by bouts of “non-stop vomiting” and panic attacks.
She said: “What I have found mostly is that it’s so much more common than anybody would think. And luckily, we’re beyond the time when folks think PTSD is straight up just for combat veterans. And that was what I initially thought.
“Luckily, that science has advanced so that it can include someone like me. I was having these panic attacks. And the way they took form in me is like non-stop vomiting.
“Since my lobectomy, I have been plagued with this.
“I couldn’t figure out: Why am I shaking all the time? Why does everything make me sick to my stomach?
“You know, when you’re barfing, you can’t go anywhere, you can’t do anything, you’re weak.
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“I have a team of people, I finally said, ‘I can’t do this myself.’ “
Kathy has taken a “drug-free” approach to treatment and has found Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EDMR) therapy very helpful.
She said: ” I need to have alternative remedies. I have to be in acceptance that this is my new reality. And this is my new voice. And so I’m doing this thing called EMDR.
“You go back to something traumatic, like let’s say it was my cancer diagnosis. But you work through it in a way where your brain can stop being stuck in the place of going: ‘Oh, my God, I’m gonna die. My career is over, my life is over. I have this horrible new voice that sounds like I’m on helium.’
“Then you put it in a new place where you process it and go: ‘Hey, I got booked in Vegas. My career isn’t over.’ ”
The 62-year-old comic is also undergoing talking therapy, Kundalini Yoga classes, chanting mantras in a breathing class, acupuncture, cupping and five Alcoholics Anonymous meetings via zoom a week.
However, she admitted: “I’m afraid of essential oils, because that can be a cult. I saw a 60 Minutes on it. Be careful of essential oils.”
And now, Kathy has a new lease of life.
She said: “I have not vomited in months. I haven’t had to cancel anything because of anxiety…
“I feel like I figuratively lost my comedic voice because of the Trump photo scandal, I literally lost my voice due to the cancer surgery and now I finally have my voice back.
“I’m a grateful, naughty comedian again!”
