Symptoms of PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event. After a traumatic experience, it’s normal for an individual to feel frightened, sad, anxious, and disconnected. But if these sensations don’t go away, they may be suffering from PTSD.

PTSD is a state in which you “can’t stop remembering,” and almost any trauma can cause it. The most severely affected people are unable to work and have trouble with relationships. Even individuals not directly involved in a dramatic tragic event may be affected.

Causes

PTSD can affect those who personally experience a catastrophe, those who witness the catastrophe, and those who are there to pick up the pieces afterwards. This includes emergency workers, law enforcement, and even counselors, therapists, and direct care workers (such as Direct Support Professionals and Direct Care Workers). PTSD can even occur in the friends or family of those who went through the actual trauma.

Some events that can cause PTSD in a person are a severe accident or injury; a life-threatening medical diagnosis; exposure to war combat; a natural or other disaster; a terrorist attack; being the victim of rape, robbery, or assault; and enduring physical, sexual, emotional, or other forms of abuse.

Symptoms

Symptoms typically surface within three months of a traumatic event and may dissolve within a few months; for some people, symptoms may not surface for years. Some suffer chronic, unrelenting symptoms while others notice that symptoms come and go, increasing and decreasing in severity over time.

The major categories of PTSD symptoms are:

• Re-living the symptoms – memories of the traumatic event can come back at any time, making the person feel the same fear and horror as when the event first took place. This can happen by experiencing nightmares or flashbacks caused by triggers. Triggers can be just about anything, but the most common are hearing, smelling, or seeing something that reminds the person of the event.

• Avoidance – avoiding situations or people that remind the person of the traumatic event and may avoid talking or thinking about the event.

• Hyperarousal – the individual is always on the alert for danger. He or she may seem jittery and may suddenly become angry or irritable. Trouble sleeping and concentrating are part of this state, as well as the insistence of having his or her back against a wall when in a public place in order to observe everything happening around them.

Some other symptoms include emotional numbness, restlessness, anxiety, violent behavior, and feeling isolated, disconnected, and “different” from others.

Children and teens can also experience symptoms of PTSD. The symptoms in teens are similar to those of adults but are more likely to show impulsive or aggressive behaviors. Children, on the other hand, may not have flashbacks or difficulty remembering parts of the trauma. Instead, they may put the events in the wrong order when they recall the trauma. They may also exhibit signs of PTSD in their play, during which they may repeat the trauma. It should be noted that this play does not ease their worry or make their pain disappear.

Treatment

Treatment for PTSD usually involves some form of psychotherapy, of which there are five types that are commonly used. Those five are:

• Cognitive-behavior therapy – this works toward helping the individual minimize his or her symptoms by learning to change the way they think about and react to thoughts regarding their trauma.

• Group therapy – sharing the personal and emotional story can help the individuals cope with symptoms, memories, and day to day functioning. Group therapy also helps the person build relationships with others, which can lead to increased self-confidence and trust.

• Family therapy – the goal of family therapy is to improve communication within the family and help everyone deal with tough emotions. Family members might have a hard time coping with and understanding the symptoms and may feel anger, fear, or guilt about their loved one’s condition.

• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) – this is to change how an individual reacts to memories of his or her trauma. While the individual is thinking about their memories of the trauma, they will focus on the stimuli, such as sounds, hand-taps, or eye movements.

• Exposure therapy – working with a licensed professional, this is to re-live the trauma in a safe environment in order to work through the violent experience. This way, the person learns to get control over his or her thoughts and feelings related to the trauma. They can also learn relaxation techniques to help them calm down when stressful memories surface.

There are also many ways that people can help themselves work through the symptoms of PTSD. Some of these include meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, acupuncture, outdoor activities or spending time in nature, and confiding in someone they trust. It is best, however, to consult a licensed professional to develop an individual treatment program.

Around 7-8% of the population will experience PTSD at some point in their life. There is research being conducted aiming to develop better-targeted treatments to reduce the symptoms in those suffering. If you or someone you know is suffering from PTSD, be informed, share positive distractions, and remember that with time and treatment, it can get better.