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Are you suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

17 Jul 2008

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is known in short as PTSD. It is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more terrifying events in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Post traumatic stress disorder is a severe and on going emotional reaction to an extreme psychological trauma. People who have been exposed to or experienced an extremely violent attack are most likely to develop PTSD. Some of the other main reasons for developing post traumatic stress disorder include witnessing alarming events, natural disasters, unexpected bereavement or being diagnosed with a serious injury. It can, however, take between three months and one year to develop the condition.

Whatever the cause of post traumatic stress disorder; the onset of it occurs when the degree of usual psychological defences are incapable of coping. In certain cases post traumatic stress disorder may also be brought on from profound psychological and emotional trauma rather than actual physical harm; however the two are often combined.

Post traumatic stress disorder has also been recognised in the past as shell shock, traumatic war neurosis or post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS). There are many symptoms that can be associated with post traumatic stress disorder such as mental issues like intrusion; this is when the event is constantly revisited within the persons mind or flashbacks, which occur as sudden and vivid unwanted images of the event as though the individual is reliving the event. Post traumatic stress disorder also causes painful emotions which can lead an individual to experience numbness and a loss of deep feeling, depression, guilt and anxiety as well as a retreat away from relationships. It also causes an individual to avoid activities that may trigger memories of the event as well as making them avoid dealing with the grief and anger that they are experiencing. It will also mean that an individual will more than likely start self-medicating with alcohol or drugs as a way of escaping what is really happening.

Another sign and symptom of post traumatic stress disorder is the increased feeling of constant threat, which can lead you to having a very short temper, irritable emotions, becoming angry towards people that you care about, difficulty concentrating, disturbed sleep and nightmares as well as poor mental and work performance.

If you think you are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder or you know of someone who is then it is highly important that you seek medical help as soon as possible. Post traumatic stress disorder is treatable. There are a number of different approaches to how post traumatic stress disorder should be approached such as some treatments are based on a combination of psychological therapies as well as medication such as drugs for depression and anxiety. Medication is just one way of tackling the problem of post traumatic stress disorder. Another is through what is known as cognitive behavioural therapy. The idea behind this is to help people understand the condition. It can help patients learn how to change their behaviour or reaction to their symptoms through things such as breathing control and anger control. One last way of dealing with post traumatic stress disorder is through exposure therapy. This may seem stressful but it can help. It involves confronting fears and reliving the events with a therapist. The way in which this works is that it helps the individual learn to cope with what has happened.

People can recover from PTSD within months, but for some the condition can last for many years. Every case is different and in order to fully cope you need to approach the situation in a way that is best to you.

Helen is the web master of Accident Consult, specialist in all aspects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.