What is PTSD?
Many people have heard the acronym PTSD or know what it stands for post-traumatic stress syndrome.
But many people have misconceptions about it, as well. There might be a vague sense that PTSD has to do with stress or a reaction to traumatic events.
But people might not know more about the levels of PTSD, how to handle chronic or intermittent PTSD, and how it is considered in a medical environment – as well as what the newest science is on treatment.
Here is some of the context about how to help people with PTSD.
What is PTSD?
Essentially, PTSD is a response to something that is a traumatic event, that shaped someone's life. The pressure of a traumatic event or a series of traumatic events gets internalized in the body in various ways. There is a mind-body connection where an impact on someone's central nervous system has other effects elsewhere in the body!
So that informs how individuals and communities deal with PTSD. It's a real issue and can be a challenging condition to deal with.
Who gets PTSD?
Many different kinds of people get PTSD. It's often talked about in a military context – many veterans have PTSD from things like firefights, artillery exposure or traumatic events around combat.
But other people have PTSD, too. People involved in 'domestic combat' or different types of physical fights are one big category. People can have PTSD from chronic or recurring events. Abuse often triggers PTSD.
Effects of PTSD
Likewise, the effects of PTSD are diverse. Manifestation of PTSD can involve poor sleep patterns or irritability. It can also involve panic attacks with generalized panic disorder that results from PTSD.
PTSD is recognized as a health condition related to holistic health and the mind-body connection. People are diagnosed according to some criteria relevant to how PTSD works and what it does to the mind and body.
Then, clinicians can try to handle it or solve it with treatment including:
EMDR
Brainspotting
Medications
Therapy
Lifestyle changes
Meditation
Acupuncture
Patients will typically talk to clinicians and mental health professionals to try to find a way around the problems associated with PTSD.
Different types of PTSD
Two fundamentally different types of PTSD manifest in different ways.
In one category of cases, people have chronic effects, like the sleeplessness and anxiety mentioned above.
In other cases, people have episodic events related to loss of control, surges of adrenaline, extreme mood disorders and other certain conditions.
At Dave Saunders Counseling, we help people 16 years of age and above to deal with PTSD in their lives. We say that "it's time to get past your past." Make today a new day! Contact our office to schedule a consultation and talk about getting control of this type of challenge in your life.