Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after someone experiences a traumatic event that caused intense fear, helplessness or horror.

PTSD can result from personally experienced traumas (e.g., rape, war, natural disasters, abuse, serious accidents and captivity) or from the witnessing or learning of a violent or tragic event.

While it is common to experience a brief state of anxiety or depression after such occurrences, people with PTSD continually re-experience the traumatic event. They avoid individuals, thoughts, or situations associated with the event, and have symptoms of excessive emotions.

People with this disorder have these symptoms for longer than one month and usually cannot function as well as they did before the traumatic event.

PTSD symptoms typically appear within three months of the traumatic experience; however, they sometimes occur months or even years later.

Symptoms of PTSD

Although the symptoms for individuals with PTSD can vary considerably, they generally fall into three categories:
Re-experience – Individuals with PTSD often experience recurrent and intrusive recollections of and/or nightmares about the stressful event.

Some may experience flashbacks, hallucinations or other vivid feelings of the event happening again. Others experience great psychological or physiological distress when certain things (objects, situations, etc.) remind them of the event.

Avoidance – Many with PTSD will persistently avoid things that remind them of the traumatic event. This can result in avoiding everything from thoughts, feelings or conversations associated with the incident to activities, places or people that cause them to recall the event.

In others there may be a general lack of responsiveness signaled by an inability to recall aspects of the trauma, a decreased interest in formerly important activities, a feeling of detachment from others, a limited range of emotion and/or feelings of hopelessness about the future.

Increased arousal – Symptoms in this area may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, becoming very alert or watchful, and/or jumpiness or being easily startled.

It is important to note that those with PTSD often use alcohol or other drugs in an attempt to self-medicate. Individuals with this disorder may also be at an increased risk for suicide.

How is PTSD treated?

EMDR Therapy and Exposure Therapy have been found to be the most effective treatments for PTSD.  Also, medication may be helpful as an adjunct to psychotherapy.
During an initial assessment we can determine what may be most helpful to you.