Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition. It is usually caused when the sufferer experiences one or more events or extended periods of time that are dangerous, frightening, stressful, life-threatening, life-altering or otherwise shocking or distressing.
What causes it?
Common causes of PTSD include:
- Car accidents
- Violence
- Sexual assault
- Crime
- Terrorism
- War/conflict
- Serious health problems
- Near-death experiences
- Childbirth
- Abuse
- Neglect
One in three people who experience traumatic events such as those above will develop symptoms.
The symptoms can arise immediately after the event, or they can arise weeks, months or even years later.
What do the symptoms look like?
The symptoms of PTSD include:
- Flashbacks
- Intrusive, unwelcome thoughts
- A feeling of distress (often very intense) when reminded of traumatic events
- A sense of reliving the traumatic experiences, sometimes to a degree of intensity that it feels like they are real to the sufferer at the time
- Nightmares
- Hyperarousal / hypervigilance – a heightened state of anxiety or excessive alertness to potential threats, even if they are not there at the time
- Feeling ‘on edge’
- Insomnia
- Tiredness and lack of energy
- Feeling irritable, easily upset or quick to anger
- Being easily startled or ‘jumpy’
- Feeling low and/or tired after you have been startled because it has used up all your adrenaline
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Trembling
- Physical pain
- Feelings of tension in the body
- Racing heartbeat
- Dizziness
- A sense that you need to keep busy to take your mind of things, even to the point of obsessiveness
- Avoiding things which might remind you of traumatic events, even if those things are normal day to day things (like socialising, stable relationships or driving for example)
- Agoraphobia or a fear of leaving the house
- Memory loss, particularly memories related to your traumatic experiences
- Feeling emotionally numb or empty
- Being unable to express certain emotions
- Feeling unable to express affection for others, including those closest to you
- Adopting risky or destructive behaviours as a distraction
- Substance abuse to numb feelings, supress memories, cope with social situations or otherwise try to control your emotions
- Paranoia or a sense that you can’t trust other people
- A feeling that nowhere is safe
- Feeling alone, isolated or that no-one else understands you, what you have been through or what you are going through
- Feelings of guilt related to your experience or how you are as a result of those experiences
- A sense of being overwhelmed by one or more feelings related to your traumatic experience
- Exhaustion… I mean just look at the list above
So, if you think you or someone you know might have PTSD, what can you do about it?
PTSDelivery 