What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Posted by Sylvia on November 14th, 2006
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is often associated with major events in which people are exposed to tremendous amounts of fear and dread. This includes people caught in wars, major disasters, terrorist attacks, serious accidents, personal assaults and other situations in which they perceive that their lives are in mortal danger.
These are only some of the situations that can cause post traumatic stress disorder.
Wikipedia states:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term for certain psychological consequences of exposure to, or confrontation with, stressful experiences that the person experiences as highly traumatic. The experience must involve actual or threatened death, serious physical injury, or a threat to physical and/or psychological integrity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder
Researchers have discovered that there are signs to indicate that people who experience emotional abuse, especially as children, can be included in this group, along with people who learn they have a life-threatening illness, such as cancer.
Any such situation that individuals interpret as being a threat to their lives can trigger post traumatic stress disorder. This includes witnessing traumatic events such as the recent Asian Tsunami and seeing another person being abused.
It’s interesting to note that many people who suffer a major stressful event do not develop PTSD. According to the National Center for PTSD:
Most people who are exposed to a traumatic, stressful event experience some of the symptoms of PTSD in the days and weeks following exposure. Available data suggest that about 8% of men and 20% of women go on to develop PTSD, and roughly 30% of these individuals develop a chronic form that persists throughout their lifetimes.
(http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/facts/general/fs_what_is_ptsd.html)
The outcome is worsened for individuals who do not have support networks to help them through such events.Wikipedia adds:
For most people, the emotional effects of traumatic events will tend to subside after several months; if they last longer, then a psychiatric disorder may be diagnosed. Most people who experience traumatic events will not develop PTSD…
When repeated stressful events come one after another, leaving no time for the individual to recover sufficiently can cause PTSD, too. For instance, a person who survives a health scare, only to learn that a family member is terminally ill and they risk losing their home because of the financial burden can develop PTSD.
What are the symptoms of PTSD?
It’s common for people who have witnessed or experienced a major traumatic event to relieve it in nightmares and flashbacks, although when awake they will have problems remembering certain aspects of the traumatic event.
Apart from seeing the disturbing images, they can have sleep disruptions, and disassociation to the point it impairs their daily lives. Other symptoms include depression, substance abuse, general restlessness, insomnia, aggressiveness, emotional detachment and other physical and mental health problems.
What is the treatment?
Early intervention is highly effective in preventing the initial stress from developing into full blown post traumatic stress disorder. The most common treatment uses a combination of psychotherapy, which includes exposure to the fearful event, and drug therapy.
An interesting technique that has shown to be effective involves “rewriting” the horrific nightmares by using imagery rehearsal, a method whereby the dreaded images are replaced with positive ones. The idea is to overcome the helplessness of the nightmare with thoughts that provide resolutions to the event.
Caught and treated early with the appropriate help and support, post traumatic stress disorder in most cases can be stopped and the individual can enjoy a full recovery.