ABOUT/DESCRIPTION
PTSD is a type of Anxiety Disorder that can occur in people who have been exposed to a severe and traumatic physical or emotional event. Relatively new to the family of Anxiety Disorders, PTSD was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980. Originally considered a war-time soldier's disorder and limited to those who had experienced the intense life and death trauma of war (i.e. shell shock, battle fatigue), PTSD can arise following a wide variety of traumatic events including rape, robbery or other violent physical assault, natural disaster, even the sudden unexpected loss of a loved one.
PTSD symptoms include repeated, intrusive recollections of the traumatic event through vivid flashbacks and dreams. Flashbacks are multi-sensory recollections in which the sufferer re-experiences the feelings of horror in mirrored detail including the {$LAYOUT_IMAGE_PATH}, sounds, smells, etc. associated with the traumatic event. Flashbacks can be triggered by stimulus that brings back memories of the traumatic event, so avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma is common. However, flashbacks can strike out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
Other symptoms of PTSD may include:
- Depression
- Sleep problems, nightmares
- Emotional numbing, feelings of detachment
- Social withdrawal
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability, hostility
- Hyper vigilance
- Being easily startled
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities
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QUICK FACTS
PTSD affects approximately 5.2 million American adults annually and occurs in both children and adults.
Symptoms of PTSD typically occur within three months following the trauma.
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GENERAL HELP TECHNIQUES
Exact treatment will of course vary from person to person based on severity (mild, acute, or chronic), and other factors, PTSD is typically treated with medications, therapy, or a combination the two.
Many forms of therapy are used in the treatment of PTSD including psychotherapy, relaxation therapy, and exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is particularly utilized in cases of PTSD to desensitize or lesson the affect of the traumatic event. This form of therapy includes education of the internal physiological processes related to exposure to trauma, relaxation and breathing techniques as coping mechanisms for under-reacting to the symptoms, and gradual and repeated exposure to the trauma to diminish its hold on sufferer
However, the most researched, clinically proven, and recommended form of treatment therapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) combined with exposure therapy. CBT is simply an integration of the cognitive (thought) restructuring approach of traditional cognitive therapy and the behavior modification techniques of traditional behavioral therapy.
CBT is a structured, short-term therapy that that is very goal oriented and conducive to change. It is an action based from of therapy based on the premise that bad or faulty thinking patterns cause negative emotions and negative behaviors. This treatment teaches people to understand and change their thinking patterns so they can change their behavior and emotional state. CBT teaches the individual to think and respond differently in situations that cause anxiety.
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