Often associated with returning war veterans, posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD also results from surviving other life-threatening events such as sexual violence, physical abuse, serious accidents, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters. While anyone who undergoes these circumstances may later experience anger, confusion and fear, some victims have lifelong anxiety and recurring symptoms that disrupt daily life.
Assessing The Symptoms Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
If you are unable to move on after a traumatic event, you may have posttraumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a medical condition that is characterized by traumatic events causing changes in your brain chemistry.
Common symptoms may include:
- Reliving the event. Sounds, sights and smells similar to the traumatic event may trigger a reaction.
- Avoidance of certain situations. You try to keep very busy to prevent talking about what happened.
- Experiencing numbness. Staying away from relationships, rejecting past activities you enjoyed, or blocking out strong emotions, regardless of whether they’re positive or negative.
- Feeling perpetually “hyper-vigilant.” Always on the lookout for danger, a survivor may have trouble sleeping, concentrating and may be easily startled.
- Exhibiting impulsive or self-destructive behavior. They may also partake in dangerous or thrill seeking activities.
- Feeling desperate, hopeless, or ashamed. A survivor many experience “survivor’s guilt” as a component of their PTSD, as well as a feeling of weakness and shame regarding their anxiety.
- Exhibiting physical or somatic symptoms with no corresponding physical injury. A survivor may suffer from symptoms such as dizziness, muscle pain, tinnitus or blurry vision.
- Having problems controlling emotions. A survivor may be subject to bursts anger and irritability that are unrelated to their previous mood.
Sometimes, after a traumatic event has occurred, you may feel immediate symptoms, or they may occur after the event.
Treating PTSD
Unfortunately, PSTD will not automatically resolve itself with time. If you suffer from PTSD, you may be put on medication, particularly serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to stabilize your mood and alleviate depression, along with other drugs to lessen the nightmares, flashbacks, and other frequent symptoms that accompany the disorder.
Whether or not medication is prescribed, specific types of counseling can often lessen the symptoms.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). You learn to change how you think about trauma and what causes your stress. CBT, the standard of care for treatment of PTSD by the US Department of Defense, teaches you to identify thoughts that make you feel afraid or distressed and replaces them with thoughts that cause you less trauma.
- Exposure Therapy. A form of CBT, exposure therapy has you repeatedly talk about the traumatic incidents in a safe environment, so as to successfully process the memory and be better able to confront real life reminders of the trauma.
- Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR is a therapy that desensitizes a survivor to trauma by recreating the eye movements in REM sleep. Because REM sleep is our body’s way of processing information, recreating the sensation of it helps survivors to process the trauma and move forward with their lives.
These are some other techniques that have been successful in helping to treat PTSD:
- Group treatment or family therapy
- Psychodynamic psychotherapy
- Play therapy for children
- Exercise, sport, and physical activity
- Military readjustment programs
Goals Of PTSD Treatment
The purpose of both counseling, drug therapy, and other techniques is to learn better coping skills that can increase the amount of power you feel over your life. PTSD removes your sense of control, so rehabilitation efforts stress ways to reclaim it. Your goal is to live a “normal” life that is not dominated by your trauma, where you can effectively function in jobs, relationships, and other life circumstances.
In addition to specific therapies, you may mitigate the effects of PTSD with lifestyle changes.
- Eating a balanced diet can help you relieve tension and stress.
- Striving to get enough sleep.
- Finding a satisfying career.
- Channeling your emotions into sports or creative outlets.
- Embracing a belief system that helps keep you to stay balanced.
- Learning more about PTSD to increase your understanding of why you react the way you do and why the past affects you.
Find Help At Raintree Medical And Chiropractic Center
If you believe you have undiagnosed PTSD, your primary care provider at Raintree Medical and Chiropractic Center can help you identify it, obtain treatment, and find ways to manage your condition. We can also offer information on healthy living and provide services such as massage therapy and chiropractic care that can help you relax. For information, call us today at 816-623-3020 or set up an appointment online.