What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur in people who have been exposed to a severe and traumatic physical or emotional event. Relatively new to the family of Anxiety Disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980.
While it was originally considered a wartime soldier’s disorder and limited to those who had experienced the intense life and death trauma of war (i.e. shell shock, battle fatigue), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can arise following a wide variety of traumatic events including rape, robbery or other violent physical assault, natural disaster, even the sudden unexpected loss of a loved one.
What are the Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) include repeated, intrusive recollections of the traumatic event through vivid flashbacks and dreams. Flashbacks are multi-sensory recollections in which the sufferer re-experiences the feelings of horror in mirrored detail including the images, sounds, smells, etc. associated with the traumatic event. These events can seem very real to the person experiencing PTSD. This disorder often coexists with other mental and mood disorders like depression.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) flashbacks can be triggered by stimulus that brings back memories of the traumatic event, so avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma is common. However, flashbacks can strike out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
Other symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) may include:
- Depression
- Sleep problems, nightmares
- Emotional numbing, feelings of detachment
- Social withdrawal
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability, hostility
- Hypervigilance
- Being easily startled
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities
Quick Facts about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects approximately 5.2 million American adults annually and occurs in both children and adults.
Symptoms of PTSD typically occur within three months following the trauma.
Treatment Options for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
While exact treatment will of course vary from person to person based on severity (mild, acute, or chronic), and other factors, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is typically treated with medications, therapy, or a combination the two. Some of the effective treatments are also used to treat other disorders like depression and panic, so patients often benefit in several ways by undergoing the proper treatments.
Many forms of therapy are used in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), including psychotherapy, relaxation therapy, and exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is particularly utilized in cases of PTSD to desensitize or lesson the affect of the traumatic event. This form of therapy includes education of the internal physiological processes related to exposure to trauma, relaxation and breathing techniques as coping mechanisms for under-reacting to the symptoms, and gradual and repeated exposure to the trauma to diminish its hold on sufferer
However, the most researched, clinically proven, and recommending form of treatment therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is probably cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is also effective at treating depression, anxiety, and panic disorders. CBT is simply an integration of the cognitive (thought) restructuring approach of traditional cognitive therapy and the behavior modification techniques of traditional behavioral therapy.
CBT is a structured, short-term therapy that that is very goal-oriented and conducive to change. It is an action-based form of therapy predicated on the premise that bad or faulty thinking patterns cause negative emotions and negative behaviors. This treatment teaches people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other disorders to understand and change their thinking patterns so they can change their behavior and emotional state. CBT teaches the individual to think and respond differently in situations that cause anxiety.
