When something traumatic happens in your life, it shocks you from deep inside. You feel unsafe in this world, and get stuck with a constant sense of danger and painful memories. Over the time, you may develop resistance against such feelings to start living normal life. If the symptoms get worse and disturbs your daily life style, you may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What is Post-traumatic stress disorder?
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder caused by very stressful, traumatic or terrifying events. Such events have an ability to severely affect your mental, physical, social, and spiritual well-being. It develops strange reactions like anger, nervousness, irritability, fear, and guilt in the PTSD patients. They may also develop sleeping problems and find difficult to concentrate.
PTSD can be categorized in three main types –
- Delayed-onset PTSD – If your traumatic symptoms lasts for more than six months, it is termed as delayed-onset PTSD.
- Complex PTSD – If you have experienced repeated traumatic events at an early age or it lasts for a long time, you may need a PTSD treatment for complex PTSD.
- Birth trauma – A traumatic experience after the childbirth is known as birth trauma.
What are the causes and symptoms of PTSD?
PTSD can be caused due to inherited mental health, family history of depression and anxiety. It depends upon the severity and amount of trauma you have undergone.
Develop after a prolonged traumatic event such as –
- serious road accidents or severe injuries
- violent and prolonged sexual assault
- witnessing violent deaths of loved ones
- military combat
- horrific robbery or terrorist attacks
- alcohol or drug abuse
When you feel danger or stressed emotionally, your body releases cortisol and adrenaline hormones to respond to such threatening event. These hormones are continuously produced even when there is no danger. It causes the PTSD patients to have an extreme alertness, hyper emotional, and easily startled.
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PTSD patients may show following symptoms depending upon the severity of the trauma –
- Intrusive thoughts – You may have repeated and unconscious memories followed by distressing dreams and flashbacks of the traumatic event.
- Deliberate avoidance – Trying to avoid the reminders of the traumatic event may cause you to ignore people, places, thoughts, objects, and situations. You may show less interest in activities you have previously enjoyed doing. You can feel estranged from others, and may always feel unhappy and unsatisfied.
- Change in perception and mood – Inability to remember is another symptom of PTSD. You may have regular negative thoughts and feelings like fear, anger, irritation, guilt, or shame. You can develop arousal and reactive symptoms in a self-destructive way. It may result in suspecting your surroundings and peoples around you. You may have problems in concentrating and sleeping.
PTSD patients may also suffer from physical symptoms like high blood pressure, raised heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle inflammation, nausea, and diarrhoea. To overcome trauma, you may have flashbacks, hallucination, and nightmare.
How to treat PTSD?
PTSD can be treated with the help of psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health professional specially trained for mental health illness. You can seek treatments and diagnosis like psychotherapy, psychiatrist assessment, Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and antidepressant medications. A Kind Place has a team of experienced psychologists ready to treat mental health illnesses. Check them out now.