Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological disorder which happens in people who have experienced or witnessed any traumatic event. It can be some stressful incident, accident, natural disaster, terrorist activity and rape, sexual, physical or mental abuse. This is not only about the experience ones have but also about learning others stressful experiences as well. It can occur in any gender at any age. However, the ratio of PTSD is more in women as compared to men.
It is not necessary that this PTSD happens immediately after any event but can build in some time as well. The person may receive some triggers which can make the person think about that certain incident.
Triggers:
These triggers can be some
- Tastes
- Thoughts
- People
- Noise
- Places
- Smell
- Same relatable event
- Emotions
- Situations
Symptoms:
There can be many symptoms of PTSD depending on the nature and severity of it. These are divided into four more categories, lets a have a look on them:
- Unpleasant memories
The patient has episodes of unpleasant memories and intrusions regarding the same event. They may feel like they are reliving in the same event and having flashbacks of it in some periods. They can also experience the same feelings as they had it at that particular time.
- Avoidance
This stage is about avoiding the particular event, satiation, condition and people. They are trying to avoid each and every aspect of the traumatic event. They will not share about the certain incident or feelings and will avoid talking about it.
- Negative change in mood
One can have different changes in mood as well. They can feel hopelessness, unhappy, negative thoughts about people and oneself. Often they can forget certain details of the event, feel numb in certain phases or facing difficulty in maintaining relationships.
- Arousal symptoms
At this stage, there is some physical or emotional problem in one’s being. They can behave angrily, being stubborn and feeling frightened and can feel trouble sleeping and talking as well. Also they can have fearful dreams watching it in different episodes. They may have self-destructive actions like hurting themselves or others.
PTSD related problems:
Post-traumatic stress disorder can lead to many more disorders as well. They are however different disorders which can be interlinked with PTSD as well. This article will be relating to those disorders as a consequence of PTSD.
- Acute stress disorder:
It can be happening as a reaction to PTSD. The symptoms are quite similar to it as well. It can show in some days to three months. It happens when a patient is experiencing the flashbacks or episodic events of a certain trauma. This can cause severe stress and depression which is also known as acute stress disorder. Half of the people show both of the disorders at the same time. This mostly happens in accident or rape survivors.
- Adjustment disorder:
This includes behavioral or emotional disturbance symptoms. One can feel tense, nervous, and anxious or act harshly. The patient can face a headache when they have triggers. This overall disorder starts from three- six months when they will experience any stressors. They feel difficulty in adjusting with the daily life situations due to their emotion’s disturbance.
Social engagement disorder
It mostly occurs in children when they are neglected or ignored by their family or loved ones. They lack the basic attachment and love feelings in their life. So they will hesitate to go in family gatherings but feel free in interacting with strangers. However they will feel difficulty in relating to peer or adults. PTSD can lead to social engagement disorder as well. When they feel frighten or fearful, they need more attention of their family and when they don’t get it they can have anti-social personality.
- Reactive attachment disorder:
Children can develop it when they are socially neglected in the early years of their life. It mostly shows up before age five. They are not aware of comfort, ease, love, care feelings. Also they feel uncomfortable when someone tries to be affectionate towards them and will don’t have any attachment feelings towards anyone. In PTSD, one can go through this phase as well. When he will feel detached from his family, peer group or socially cut in his circle. This explains and expresses their sadness and fear.
Causes:
Some disturbing events that can cause PTSD, can be
- Any childhood experiences
- Physical and mental assault
- Inherited mental problems
- Negligence in childhood
- Life threatening events
- War events
Treatment:
Different therapies and medicines can help in treating this disorder. Fortunately, it is curable and can be completely finished. Medicines can help in controlling the symptoms by giving anti-stressors and steroids. This will help in relieving the acute consequences of it. However, doctors should be consulted in all kinds of medicines and treatments.
Cognitive behavioral therapies are the best treatment for PTSD. Some of them are:
- Cognitive processing therapy
- Prolonged exposure therapy
- Stress inoculation therapy
- Group therapy
PTSD is not a normal condition that you can ignore. It needs proper treatment and management. You can consult the best psychologists in Lahore through marham.pk for any help related to PTSD.
