Post-traumatic stress disorder is an illness which can follow any terrifying event in a person’s life and is usually characterised by the person having persistent and unwanted thoughts and feelings about the ordeal.
Although it is an illness, which those returning from war first brought to the public’s attention it can happen to anyone who had gone through a traumatic experience sometime in their lives or by witnessing a traumatic event.
What events are characterised a being traumatic?
A traumatic event can be anything which affects a person and causes them deep anxiety or stress, common events associated with post-traumatic stress disorder is:
* Domestic or child abuse history
* Any violent attack on a person such as a mugging, rape or torture
* Any threat of violence such as continual bullying or verbal abuse in the home
* Being in any disaster or witnessing a disaster
* Being held captive or kidnapped
* Being involved in an accident or witnessing an accident
* Being in military combat
Any event can cause post-traumatic stress disorder which affects a person’s life or those around them and trauma can commonly occur in those who have witnessed or been involved in any event such as a car accident, plane crash, train derailment or some similar event.
What are the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder?
There can be numerous signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and symptoms can vary in intensity from person to person, symptoms which are all common with post-traumatic stress disorder are:
* Flashbacks- the person will relive the event again and again during a normal day
* Nightmares and night terrors
* Avoiding anything which remind them of the event, such as places, people, times of the day, activities and conversations
* The inability to remember important specific details of the event
* A difficulty in concentrating
* Very irritable or have outburst of anger
* The person is easily startled
* They loss interest in activities they once enjoyed
* They have feelings of guilt about those who dies or where injured during the event
* They put themselves at a distance from others
How is post-traumatic stress disorder treated?
Therapy plays an important part in the treatment of this illness along with medication, getting the person to talk about the event is essential in them being able to let go of thoughts and feelings associated with the event and enables them to move on.
The length of treatment will depend on how severely affected the individual has been and if there are any other problems such as panic attacks and agoraphobia associated with the illness.
