What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition that certain people acquire after seeing or experiencing a terrible incident. War, a natural catastrophe, a vehicle accident, or sexual abuse can all be life-threatening traumatic events. However, not every incident is inherently harmful. For instance, the untimely loss of a loved one might result in PTSD.
It is natural to feel scared during and after a terrible event. Fear causes a “fight-or-flight” reaction. This is the body’s technique of protecting itself from potential danger. It produces modifications in your body such as hormone production and increases overall alertness, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration.
Most individuals heal organically over time. However, people suffering from PTSD feel agitated and terrified long after the event has passed. PTSD symptoms may appear later in certain circumstances. They may also appear and disappear over time.
Signs and Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Symptoms generally appear shortly after the stressful experience. However, they may not show for months or even years. They could also appear and disappear over time.
You may have PTSD if your symptoms linger for more than four weeks, give you significant discomfort, or conflict with your job or family life.
The following are the primary symptoms and behaviors related to PTSD and complicated PTSD:
- Flashbacks, intrusive recollections, or nightmares allow you to relive the experience.
- Emotional overload caused by flashbacks, recollections, or dreams
- Feeling “numb” or unable to sense emotions
- Dissociation can entail detaching oneself or others.
- This might imply that you are attempting to divert your attention away from the trauma. Or you avoid individuals and circumstances that bring up memories of the trauma.
- Negative emotions and thoughts.
- Controlling your emotions is difficult.
- Anger, irritation, panic, and persistent anxiety
- It’s difficult to sense pleasure.
- A strong sensation of remorse or humiliation
- Negative self-perceptions such as feeling inadequate, useless, or defeated
- Other people’s problems
- Relationship issues and a sense of alienation from others
- Problems sleeping and focusing as a result of hyperarousal.
- Being easily frightened or shocked.
- Self-destructive behaviour, such as speeding or binge drinking.
- A persistent sense of impending danger. This is known as hypervigilance. It is the sensation of being continually on guard or highly sensitive to factors like scent and loudness.
Causes of Post-Traumatic Disorder
After encountering anything horrific, you may acquire PTSD. This might involve witnessing or hearing about a distressing event.It can be brought on by witnessing or hearing about a single, repeating, or many incidents such as:
- serious accidents,
- physical and sexual assault or abuse, including childhood or domestic abuse,
- emotional abuse,
- race-based trauma,
- work-related exposure to trauma, such as being in the army, emergency services, or humanitarian sector,
- trauma related to serious health problems or childbirth,
- war and conflict, and
However, it might also be caused by something else. What matters is how you personally perceive the event or events. Traumatic occurrences may undermine our view that life is fair, that we are reasonably safe, and that we are secure. However, not everyone who suffers trauma develops PTSD. The likelihood of having PTSD is determined by how the incident impacts you. PTSD is more likely to occur if the distressing experience is:
- is unexpected
- lasts a long period
- includes being confined
- is caused by others
- results in numerous fatalities
- involves a potential threat to your life
- results in body mutilation
- affects children.
If you have ever suffered sadness or anxiety, you are at a higher risk of getting PTSD.
Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
There is no cure for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but there are several treatments that can help with the symptoms. There are different psychotherapy options available, as well as indications that medicines may be beneficial for persons suffering with PTSD symptoms.
These therapeutic strategies are designed to help reduce, or perhaps eliminate, the unpleasant symptoms that persons suffering with PTSD frequently encounter.
There are several psychotherapy treatments available for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. However, there are a handful that are gaining research-based data to demonstrate their efficacy in the treatment of PTSD.
When you’ve found a mental health expert, consider what you’d like to talk about with him or her, such as your ideas, emotions, symptoms, and so on. All of this information is useful to your psychotherapist in order to help you control and address your symptoms.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Cognitive processing therapy is a sort of cognitive behavioural therapy that concentrates on how you view your traumatic incident and how you manage with the psychological and emotional aspects of your experience. This procedure includes informing you on the components of cognitive behavioural therapy and highlights the importance of working as a team with your therapist.
You work together to analyse the distressing incident and get through “stuck areas.” Stuck areas are specific trauma-related beliefs that are impeding rehabilitation. This type of counselling can be done alone or in groups.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is an abbreviation for eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. This is a sort of psychotherapy that is frequently utilised with trauma survivors, notably those suffering from PTSD symptoms. This therapy employs bilateral sensory input, such as side-to-side eye movements, to assist you in processing challenging flashbacks, ideas, and anxiety associated with your trauma.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of talk therapy that emphasises the connection between ideas, feelings, and behaviours. CBT focuses on present symptoms and issues and typically lasts 12 to 16 sessions. It can be done individually or in a group setting.
You and your therapist will work together to discover distortions or unhelpful patterns in your trauma-related thoughts and feelings. The purpose of CBT is to help you return to a point where you may restore hope, feel more in control of your thoughts and behaviours, and lessen escape or avoidance behaviours.
