PTSD – an overview

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) involves intense, unpleasant, and dysfunctional reactions beginning after an overwhelming traumatic event. Events that threaten death or serious injury can cause intense, long-lasting distress.

Affected people may re-live the event, have nightmares, and avoid anything that reminds them of the event. (See also Overview of Trauma- and Stress-Related Disorders.)

When terrible things happen, many people are lastingly affected. In some, the effects are so persistent and severe that they are debilitating and constitute a disorder. Generally, events likely to cause PTSD are those that invoke feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror. Combat, sexual assault, and natural or artificial disasters are common causes of PTSD. However, it can result from any experience that feels overwhelming and life threatening, such as physical violence or an automobile crash.

It is not known why the same traumatic event may cause no symptoms in one person and lifelong PTSD in another. Nor is it known why some people witness or experience the same trauma many times over years without developing PTSD, but then develop it following an apparently similar episode.

Post traumatic stress disorder affects almost 9% of people sometime during their life, including childhood (see Acute and Post traumatic Stress Disorders in Children and Adolescents). About 4% have it during any 12-month period.

Post traumatic stress disorder lasts for more than 1 month. It may be a continuation of acute stress disorder or develop separately up to 6 months after the event.

Chronic post traumatic stress disorder may not disappear but often becomes less intense over time even without treatment. Nevertheless, some people remain severely disabled by the disorder.

Whatever form of PTSD you have, treatment can help.

Anxiety disorders include

• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Panic attacks and panic disorder
• Specific phobic disorders

The mental distress that occurs immediately or shortly after experiencing or witnessing an overwhelming traumatic event is no longer classified as an anxiety disorder. Such disorders are now classified as trauma and stressor-related disorders and include acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Our individuality or uniqueness as a person, which is influenced by our upbringing and life situations, is the reason why some people experience anxiety more than others.

Do you know …

About half of people with PTSD may recover in three months without treatment.

Homeopathy can help you overcome PTSD quickly and permanently.

It affects about 301, 000, 000 people worldwide.

Common Symptoms of PTSD

People with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically have symptoms from each of the following four categories:

Intrusion symptoms (the event repeatedly and uncontrollably invades their thoughts)

The traumatic event may repeatedly reappear in the form of involuntary, unwanted memories or recurrent nightmares. Some people have flashbacks, in which they relive events as if they were actually happening rather than simply being remembered. People may also experience intense reactions to reminders of the event. A combat veteran’s symptoms might be triggered by fireworks, for example, whereas those of a robbery victim may be triggered by seeing a gun in a movie.

Avoidance of anything that reminds them of the event

People persistently avoid things—activities, situations, or people—that are reminders of the trauma. For example, they may avoid entering a park or an office building where they were assaulted or avoid speaking to people of the same race as their assailant. They may even attempt to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations about the traumatic event.

Negative effects on thinking and mood

People may be unable to remember significant parts of the traumatic event (called dissociative amnesia). People may feel emotionally numb or disconnected from other people. Depression is common, and people show less interest in previously enjoyed activities. How people think about the event may become distorted, leading them to blame themselves or others for what happened. Feelings of guilt are also common. For example, they may feel guilty that they survived when other people did not. They may feel only negative emotions, such as fear, horror, anger, or shame, and may be unable to feel happy or satisfied or love.

Changes in alertness and reactions

People may have difficulty falling asleep or concentrating. They may become excessively vigilant for warning signs of risk. They may be easily startled. People may become less able to control their reactions, resulting in reckless behaviour or angry outbursts.

Other symptoms

Some people develop ritual activities to help reduce their anxiety. For example, people who were sexually assaulted may bathe repeatedly to try to remove the sense of being unclean.

Many people with PTSD try to relieve their symptoms with alcohol or recreational drugs and develop a substance use disorder.

PTSD can prevent people from doing what they usually enjoy and starts to affect the physical, mental, emotional and social well-being. They may develop various physical symptoms. They may stop their activities, withdraw socially, and become preoccupied with health. The mind-body complex is now fully affected and becomes a vicious circle which keeps an individual in suffering mode.

Your PTSD may not go away on their own, and they may get worse over time if you don’t seek help. See your Homeopathic doctor before your PTSD gets worse. It’s quicker to treat if you get help early.