What Is PTSD?
PTSD can occur after you witness or experience a traumatic event that makes you feel scared, shocked, or helpless.
Post-traumatic stress disorder can bring about adverse long-term effects, including generalized anxiety, flashbacks, and disrupted sleep patterns. Often, disturbing thoughts and memories linger long after the event and danger have dissipated. Instead of getting better over time, when PTSD is untreated, symptoms often deteriorate, with sufferers becoming more fearful and more anxious.
Current estimates show that PTSD affects roughly 8% of the US population at any given time. Men may be more likely to experience trauma than women, but they are less likely to be diagnosed with PTSD.
What Causes PTSD?
The cause of PTSD differs from person to person, but typically it’s due to a traumatizing life event. That may look like:
- Pandemics like COVID-19
- Being treated in a mental health facility
- Losing a loved one under distressing circumstances
- Traumatic childbirth
- Being diagnosed with a fatal illness
- Surviving a natural disaster
- Exposure to trauma at work
- Witnessing terrorist attacks
- Violence in military combat
- Abuse, bullying, and harassment
- Kidnapping
- Car crashes
- Rape and sexual assault
- Secondary trauma, such as seeing people killed in the line of duty
While the above insight into post-traumatic stress disorder might look unappetizing, here’s the good news: PTSD is treatable, so you don’t need to keep on suffering in silence.
How is PTSD Diagnosed?
A formal diagnosis of PTSD is made in line with the criteria laid down in DSM-5 (the fifth edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). This seminal text, often referred to as the bible of psychiatry, was recently updated for the first time in twenty years, replacing the outgoing DSM-IV.
Symptoms of the PTSD Diagnosis
The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder can be categorized as follows:
- Avoidance symptoms: Engaging in reckless behavior, substance abuse, problems expressing affection, or feelings of detachment
- Intrusion symptoms: Distress when confronted with trauma, sweating, nausea, or physical pain, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, or flashbacks
- Cognition and mood-related symptoms: Feelings of shame, sadness, guilt, or anger, isolation, blaming yourself for the trauma, trust issues, or restlessness
- Arousal and reactivity symptoms: Difficulty sleeping, external anxiety symptoms, problems concentrating, being easily upset, extreme alertness, or irritability
In addition to these discrete clusters of PTSD symptoms, you might also present with some physical symptoms not outlined in DSM-5. These can include:
- Weakened immune system
- Aches and pains
- Dizziness
- Chest pain
- Headaches
PTSD sometimes triggers a variety of behavioral changes, some long-term, leading to ongoing problems at home, work, and school. Stress easily trickles over into interpersonal relationships.
Beyond this, it’s commonplace for those suffering from the symptoms of PTSD to self-medicate with alcohol, prescription medications, or illicit drugs.
Usually, PTSD symptoms develop within three months of the event. This is not fixed, and symptoms can present much later in some cases.
The Types of Trauma From PTSD
Trauma experienced by PTSD sufferers can be grouped as follows:
- Normal stress response
- Acute stress disorder
- Uncomplicated PTSD
- Complex PTSD
- Comorbid PTSD
Recovery & Treatment Options for PTSD
If you experience symptoms like crying, anxiety, or issues with focus after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, this is normal and doesn’t always result in the development of full-blown PTSD.
If you feel you might be suffering from PTSD, though, getting the issue treated promptly is essential if you want to streamline a sustained recovery.
Medication
Antidepressants are proven effective for treating the symptoms of PTSD.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, is highly effective when applied to the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
