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PTSD - what is it?

PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

 

PTSD can occur in some people after experiencing an extremely stressful or traumatic event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

"89% of adults in the United States have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives"  

PTSD has been around for centuries and has been called many things such as "Shell Shock", "The thousand yard stare" or "Combat Neurosis" due to being primarily attributed to soldiers who have seen combat. However, by the late 1970's it was noted that non-military people who had experienced trauma also developed the same set of symptoms thus broadening the diagnosis criteria to anyone experiencing symptoms after a traumatic event. 

 

Traumatic experiences can include events such as combat, threatened or actual physical attack, sexual assault, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and automobile accidents.

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After a traumatic experience symptoms of PTSD could appear anywhere from months to years later. According to The Anxiety and Depression Association of America symptoms include:

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  • Re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks, and nightmares.

  • Emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people, and activities that are reminders of the trauma. 

  • Increased arousal such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, feeling jumpy, and being easily irritated and angered.

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Who is at risk?

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Experiencing trauma in itself does not mean you will develop PTSD but there are significant factors that increase the risk. Below there are some statistics and risk factors associated with  PTSD and although Veterans/Military personnel are widely portrayed as being diagnosed with PTSD, they are not the only group of people to be diagnosed with PTSD.

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  • 6.4-6.8% of adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with PTSD at least once in their lives

  • In the United States, between 3.6% and 5.7% of men and 9.7% and 12.8% of women develop PTSD once in their lives

  • African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans develop PTSD (slightly) more often than Caucasians. Asian Americans develop PTSD less often than Caucasians

  • People whose jobs involve duty-related trauma exposure such as police officers, firefighters, and medical professionals are at higher risks of developing PTSD

  • People who have experienced childhood aversity and/or traumatic experience are at a significantly higher risk of developing PTSD.

  • 10-30% of the combat veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder at least once in their lives​

  • 71% of female military personnel get PTSD due to sexual assault within the army

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Seeking Treatment for PTSD

If you are experiencing PTSD it can be an incredibly isolating experience and seeking treatment can seem overwhelming. According to statistics only 50% of people in the United States with PTSD ever seek treatment. As overwhelming as it may seem to seek treatment, untreated PTSD can get worse overtime. Untreated PTSD could lead to increased depression, anxiety, loss of relationships with family and friends, substance abuse, and in severe circumstances suicide.

 

Studies have shown that 67% of people with PTSD recover after treatment and even 56% of people recover after starting treatment whether they completed it fully or not. 

 

PTSD is primarily treated with a mix of psychotherapy and/or medication. Therapists can help by listening to your experiences and showing you how to create effective coping skills to reduce your fear/anxiety about the traumatic event. They can do this by a multitude of ways but the most common methods used for PTSD are:

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  • Cognitive therapy. This type of talk therapy helps you recognize the ways of thinking (cognitive patterns) that are keeping you stuck — for example, negative beliefs about yourself and the risk of traumatic things happening again. For PTSD, cognitive therapy often is used along with exposure therapy.

  • Exposure therapy. This behavioral therapy helps you safely face both situations and memories that you find frightening so that you can learn to cope with them effectively. Exposure therapy can be particularly helpful for flashbacks and nightmares. One approach uses virtual reality programs that allow you to re-enter the setting in which you experienced trauma.

  • Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR combines exposure therapy with a series of guided eye movements that help you process traumatic memories and change how you react to them.

 

​When seeking out therapists ask whether or not they have experience treating persons with PTSD. 

 

Medications may also be used in conjunction with psychotherapy to help ease symptoms including: Antidepressant and Anti-Anxiety medications. When starting any medication talk with you doctor about any side effects you are experiencing. This will help to tailor a medication treatment that fits your needs. 

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Remember, treatment is about YOUR recovery. Make sure you feel comfortable with your treatment plan, doctor and therapist. Healing from trauma needs to be in a safe and comfortable environment. 

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Access to Mental health has not always been easy for some, with transportation, caregiving responsibilities and long wait times for appointments it can seem impossible to find reasonable treatment options. Due to COVID-19 access to in office mental health has become even more limited, but with this pandemic we've seen there are growing online resources being made available to people. Below are links to online therapy options available to you.

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Reducing the Stigma of 

PTSD

When it comes to PTSD there are a lot of myths and misconception. When we see these myths and misconceptions we need to address them and attempt to educate people as these can do more harm to people suffering with Mental Illness. I've included some that during my research I saw multiple times. 

 

People with PTSD are violent - This myth has a lot to do with how the media has portrayed PTSD and/or mental health disorders in general. You can see movies, tv shows, newspaper articles and televised news portraying people with mental health issues as violent criminals when studies show that people suffering from mental illness are more likely to be victims of abuse rather than perpetrators. This is not to say that people diagnosed with PTSD will not become violent, studies just show that people with mental health disorders make up an extremely low percentage of violent crimes.

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You need to be in the Military to experience PTSD - When you google PTSD you see many articles and/or resources to veterans suffering from PTSD. Although they are among the population that is at risk for developing PTSD they are not the only group that can be diagnosed. As referenced above anyone who has experienced a 'traumatic' event and develops symptoms can be diagnosed.

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That was years/months ago, Why cant you just get over it? - While researching PTSD I saw that this was a common thing people were told while having PTSD. While this may seem like a innocent comment to some, this has devastating effects on a person trying to seek treatment. It implies that the person is not "strong" enough to overcome the trauma. Everyone experiences trauma in their own way and healing from that can look different for everyone. People experiencing PTSD need a safe place to discuss their trauma and treatment. Having a good social support has been shown to increase the likelihood of recovery from PTSD.

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