What Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

Roughly 3.6% of American adults, somewhere around 5.2 million people, carry a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a mental health condition that takes hold after a person is exposed to something terrifying or life threatening. The trauma grows out of severe emotional or physical harm, or the serious threat of it, and the person who develops PTSD may have been the direct victim or simply a witness to what happened. It shows up at any age, childhood included, and in anyone regardless of gender. That said, because women are more often the targets of abuse, domestic violence, and rape, PTSD turns up more frequently in women than in men.

The events that commonly lead to it include acts of aggression such as torture and physical or sexual abuse, living through a natural disaster like a fire, tornado, earthquake, or flood, and witnessing a violent act or crime firsthand.

Clinicians tend to sort the symptoms into four groups: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative shifts in thinking and mood, and changes in how a person reacts emotionally.

Intrusive memories arrive uninvited and keep returning, and they can bring real distress. Some people relive the event through flashbacks, seeing it again and experiencing its sights, smells, textures, and sounds as though it were happening a second time. Situations that call the trauma to mind can set off intense emotional pain.

Avoidance looks like steering clear of any setting where the trauma might come up in conversation, keeping away from places that stir the memories, and avoiding people who might trigger feelings tied to what happened.

When thinking and mood shift in a negative direction, a person may notice changed thoughts and feelings about themselves and about other people. Pessimism can become constant. Some withdraw emotionally and find they cannot feel or express much at all. Helplessness and hopelessness settle in, and concentrating on anything becomes a struggle.

Changes in emotional reactions can take the form of self-abusive or self-destructive behavior, ongoing trouble with focus, memory, and attention, and a state of being hyper-aroused, where the person startles or frightens easily.

Children carry their own version of this. They may have a hard time making or keeping friends, and they often re-enact the trauma, or pieces of it, through their play or artwork. A strong fear of being separated from a parent or the family can surface, along with an irrational conviction that most places or most people are dangerous.

The symptoms are not identical from one person to the next, and the condition does not hold still. It rises and falls with triggers and circumstances, and psychological and brain-scan research points to biological, psychological, and cognitive changes that accompany PTSD. People living with it frequently face other complications too, among them depression, anxiety, and addiction.

PTSD can spill into family life, friendships, work, and finances, and it can disrupt ordinary daily tasks like caring for yourself, your children, or your home. For some the decline is slow; for others it arrives almost overnight. If you or someone you love is dealing with PTSD, getting professional help is the wise move, because the condition can reach into every corner of a life.

Help does exist. Treatment may involve psychiatry or medication alongside a professional counselor working in individual, group, or family therapy. A therapist might use desensitization techniques to ease the panic that surrounds the event or situations that feel threatening, and therapy gives a person room to work through the trauma in words and thought. Over time it can also teach the coping skills needed for moments that bring on anxiety or the urge to withdraw. Starting therapy early tends to work best, though it can help at any point. A counselor may suggest medication prescribed by a psychiatrist to bring down anxiety or depression, so the person can get more out of the sessions themselves. - Kim B.