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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been mostly associated with war veterans in the minds of very many people. This disease can be suffered by anyone having had a traumatic or dangerous event happen, however.
Over five million Americans are suffering with post traumatic stress disorder at any given time. We hear mostly about Vietnam veterans having to deal with it, but it doesn’t discriminate and is much further spread than solely to veterans.
The sufferer can be a victim of rape or abuse. It can be a victim of crime or of an accident. It can manifest after a natural disaster or something happening where you thought you might lose your life. Furthermore, a person having PTSD might have just witnesses these things and not actually been a victim. Police officers, veterans, victims of crimes, no one is exempt from this illness if there has been a trauma, and that includes children.
It is vital for anyone feeling they might have PTSD to see a doctor. This is treated with medication and/or therapy, both very beneficial. Not all doctors have trained to deal with this illness, so if your family doctor doesn’t feel he or she is up to speed on it, ask for a referral.
So, how can you tell? For most people with the illness, it starts within a few months of the traumatic event, but it could wait for years to start showing signs.
Some of the more prevalent signs might be the sudden onset of a feeling like the traumatic event is happening again. There might be nightmares and memories of the event. There is a feeling of jitters when something happens suddenly and the sufferer gets upset easily over things happening without warning.
Other warning signs might be the inability to become emotionally close to others, or finding it difficult to place trust in others. There could be a guilt that the sufferer lived while others didn’t, and anger is easily aroused. Insomnia is often a problem.
A little known fact is that there are actually five types of PTSD. “Normal Stress Response” is the first. This type occurs with one traumatic event while the victim was an adult. There are bad memories, numbness of emotions, and much tension. Many times, recovery occurs within a few weeks. Some form of therapy is often helpful.
A second type of PTSD is “Acute Stress Disorder.” With this, there is difficulty in coping with everyday activities. There might be panic attacks, insomnia, an untrusting disposition, and confusion. Victims of a lone trauma don’t generally have this form of PTSD unless the trauma involved death or great loss. A doctor will treat this with medication and some crisis therapy.
“Uncomplicated PTSD” finds the victim reliving the traumatic event often. Anything associated with the event is avoided, and there is numbness of emotion. Treatment is most likely medication and therapy.
In “Comorbid PTSD,” another or multiple psychiatric disorders are generally present as well, such as depression or substance abuse.
The fifth form of PTSD is called “Complex PTSD.” This occurs when there has been long exposure to traumatic events. Things like sexual abuse in childhood could be one cause of this form of the disease. Some symptoms would include things like eating disorders, substance abuses, destructive tendencies, aggression, rage, and panic. Treatment of this form of the illness is slow and must be handled by a caregiver specifically trained in this area.
The bottom line in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder is that the sufferer must seek medical assistance. It is not incurable, and the first step in treatment has to be finding a medical provider to help start paving the road to recovery.
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