What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can occur in some people who experience or witness a traumatic event. This event might be life-threatening or seriously harm their physical, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing. PTSD can affect people of any age. The primary posttraumatic stress disorder treatment is psychotherapy which is also known as talk therapy. If you want to know about PTSD in detail, you can read further below.

Symptoms of PTSD

To be diagnosed with PTSD, symptoms need to persist for more than a month and must cause significant distress or problems in your daily life. The symptoms of PTSD are categorized into four groups which are as follows.

Avoidance:

Avoid things that remind you of the traumatic event such as people, activities, places, objects, or situations.
Avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic event.
Avoid talking about what happened or how you feel about it

Intrusion:

Intrusive thoughts that will keep coming back to your mind even if you do not want them to.
Nightmares that can be scary or upsetting.
Flashbacks of a traumatic event that come back suddenly and feel like they are happening again.

Changes in mood and thinking:

Ongoing feelings like anger, fear, shame, or guilt.
Memory loss of important parts of the traumatic event.
Ongoing negative thoughts and twisted thoughts about yourself or others that do not go away.
Blaming that you or others caused the event or its effects even when it is not true.
Feeling disconnected from others.
Not finding pleasure in things that you used to enjoy.
Inability to feel positive

Changes in reactivity and arousal:

Irritability and anger
Reckless behavior
Hypervigilance
Easily startled
Concentration and sleep issues

What are the Symptoms of PTSD in Children?

Children with PTSD might find it hard to tell you how they feel or they might have gone through something traumatic that you are not aware of. They might seem restless, keep moving around, or struggle to pay attention and stay organized.

These signs can be mistaken for symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That is why it is crucial to take your child to a specialist like a child psychologist who knows how to diagnose PTSD.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Causes

PTSD can develop when you experience, witness, or learn about an event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation. Doctors are not sure why some people get PTSD. Posttraumatic stress disorder causes might be a mix of factors which are as follows:

Stressful experiences like how much trauma you have faced in your life and how severe it was.
Inherited risks for mental health issues like a family history of depression and anxiety.
Inherited aspects of your personality which are often called your temperament.
How your brain controls the chemicals and hormones that your body releases when you are stressed.

Diagnosis of PTSD ( Do I have PTSD)

If you answer yes to three or more of the questions below, you may have PTSD.

Have you witnessed or experienced a traumatic,life threatening event?
Did this experience make you feel intensly afraid, horrified or helpless?
Do you have trouble getting the event out of your mind?
Do you startle more easily& feel more irritable or angry than you did before the event?
Do you go out of your way to avoid activities,people or thought that remind you of the event?
Do you have more trouble falling asleep or concentrating than you did before the event?
Have your symptoms lasted more than a month? 8.Is your distress making it hard for you to work or function normally?

*This questionnaire is not intended to replace professional diagnosis. For an accurate diagnosis of PTSD you will need to visit a mental health professional.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment

Pschotherapy is also known as talk therapy which is the main treatment for PTSD, especially cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). At the time of this therapy, you will talk with a trained mental health professional like a psychologist or psychiatrist. They will give you support, teach you, and guide you and your loved ones to help you feel better and improve your life.

Some Kinds of CBT for PTSD are as follows:

Trauma focussed CBT: This involves gradually “exposing”yourself to feelings & situations that remind you of the trauma & replacing distorted & irrational thoughts about the experience with more balanced picture.

Group therapy: This therapy will let people who went through similar traumas talk about their experiences and feelings in a safe, non-judgmental space. Family therapy might also help as PTSD can affect the whole family.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: In this therapy, you will move your eyes in a certain way when you think about the trauma. The goal of EMDR is to help you heal from trauma or other bad experiences. Many studies show that EMDR works well and can help you feel better faster than other methods.

PTSD Medication

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any medications specifically for treating PTSD. But doctors might prescribe certain medications to help you with some PTSD symptoms like:

Antidepressants: These include drugs like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).
Anti-anxiety medications: These medications can also be prescribed to help manage symptoms of PTSD.

Conclusion

PTSD is a serious mental health condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Treatment will often involve psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and in some cases, medications. Seeking help from a mental health professional is crucial for proper diagnosis and management of PTSD symptoms.

EMC, the best multispeciality hospital in Kochi, will give special care to people with PTSD. Our approach will combine evidence based therapies like Trauma focussed CBT with a focus on holistic wellbeing . With a team of experienced doctors, EMC will offer you affordable treatment plans to help individuals recover and improve their quality of life.