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Reliving the Past: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Common among war veterans, rape victims, and others who can experienced terrifying events, post-traumatic stress disorder is a conditions that is characterized by the gripping fear persistent due to flashback thoughts of an ordeal. Post-traumatic stress disorder, also called PTSD can hurt a person’s work, social, and family lives.

There are a number of horrible events that could cause one to experience PTSD symptoms. Besides those listed above, these include: child abuse, violent attacks, threats, natural disasters, and accidents. In any cause, there is usually a sense of helplessness and tragic danger. However simply witnessing a horrible event can cause PTSD.

PTSD has a number of distinct symptoms that can help you diagnoses your own condition. There include nightmares about the event, avoidance of thoughts or feelings, difficulty remembering the experience, irritability, difficulty concentrating, emotional drain, guilt, feelings of distance from friends and family. Having one or two of these symptoms does not mean you’re suffering from PTSD, and not everyone experiencing an event will develop this anxiety disorder. Generally, you should see a doctor is these symptoms last after one month.

Treatment for PTSD is very important because the disorder can cause you to miss work or school and have trouble socializing. Having PTSD is nothing to be ashamed of—over 5 million America adults alone say they have this disorder. PTSD affects anyone, regardless of age, race, economic status, religion, or gender, although more women than men tend to have PTSD. When something tragic happens in your life and you can’t move on, PTSD is a likely disorder to develop, no matter who you are or what you look like.

Thankfully, there are a few ways to treat PTSD. Therapy is a very good way to talk about your problems, and it can also help you from experiencing PTSD from the beginning. Remember to tell you therapist the truth about everything and ask for advice whenever you feel like you need it to avoid never-wracking situations, like panic disorders or flashbacks.


Medication is also possible to help people deal with PTSD. If PTSD is left untreated, the results could be other anxiety disorders, depression, sleeping problems, substance abuse, and a lowered immune system. You can win the fight against PTSD! Treatment in all forms is available to help you move on with your life or find closure. Talk to you doctor today if you’ve concerned about yourself developing PTSD.

Who Suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Anxiety disorders encompass a number of medical conditions deal with anxiety, and one of these conditions in particular is post-traumatic stress disorder. Unlike other mental illnesses, post-traumatic stress disorder has nothing to do with genetics. It is purely derived from your experiences in the past. Millions of people deal with post-traumatic stress disorder every year, and if you know someone who has had one of the following experiences, you should keep a watchful eye in order to be sure that post-traumatic stress disorder does not develop.

The largest group of people dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder is veterans. While at war, veterans are exposed to a number of horrible things, including death, destruction, injury too horrible to imagine, famine, abandonment of children, and rage. Often war is a time of terror, and this takes a toll on mental health. When these military personnel return home, there is often an inability to mesh back into normal society, which is why you’ll se a number of homeless veterans still today. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common, and many veterans experience dreams of their times in the service. The United States government allocates money to help these victims, so if you are a veteran and worried that the things you’ve experienced while at war could be disrupting your life, see a doctor, even if you do not have health insurance to cover treatment costs.

Victims of horrible crimes, especially rape, may also experience post-traumatic stress disorder. This medical condition often shows itself when a person is experiencing something reminiscent of the time when the crime happened. For example, a woman who was raped in the past may not be able to be intimate with another person for a long time. This extends to other crime victims as well. Dreams may occur, or a person may start avoiding certain activities or areas because of fear, even if these places and situations are very safe in rational thought.

Accidents can also cause post-traumatic stress disorder. You may find that you cannot remember a car accident if you suddenly wake up in the hospital. This may not be due to brain injuries, but rather to your brain blocking these memories because they are too difficult to bear to remember. You may also experience other symptoms typical of post-traumatic stress disorder and may form phobias of the things that caused your accident.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can affect anyone, regardless of how strong of a person you may be. When you go through a horrifying event, it is hard to remove yourself from the scare of that situation. Everyone surviving something terrible will have a period of time where they feel fear or nausea when remember the event, but if you find that these thoughts are disrupting your daily life, you should see a doctor for treatment right away.

  © Mirza Rais 2009

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