Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Life can be hard at times. For many of us, hardship comes in the form of a traumatic event that takes place unexpectedly. This could be the abrupt loss of a loved one, a violent assault, chronic abuse, a serious injury, or a car accident, for example. When faced with a dangerous situation, our bodies react automatically by activating the fight-or-flight response. That's usually helpful: it quickly gets us ready to deal with a threatening stimuli and mobilizes our resources to succeed in that endeavor. When things go according to plan, once the threat is neutralized, we go back to baseline and life moves on, hopefully in more positive directions. Unfortunately, in about 1 in every 3 cases, we don't really get back to baseline. We get stuck in the stress of that moment, unable to cope with it.

When this high level of post-traumatic stress lasts for a while (for more than a month), there is a possibility that the set of symptoms experienced qualifies for a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the DSM-5, the manual used to label and categorize mental health illnesses, the following are conditions necessary for a diagnosis of PTSD:

1. Exposure to trauma, e.g., threat of death or injury.
2. Intrusive memories, flashbacks, repetitive dreams, psychological distress, or physical distress at reminders of the event.
3. Avoidance behaviors such as trying not to think about the trauma or avoiding places that remind you of it.
4. Negative alterations in thought and mood, e.g., amnesia, negative beliefs, distorted views of the world, lack of interest, detachment, estrangement from others, inability to experience positive emotions.
5. Excessive arousal, e.g. irritability, angry outbursts, reckless behavior, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, difficulty concentrating, insomnia.

If you have yourself suffered a traumatic event and are struggling with any of the symptoms above, psychotherapy can help. Indeed, talk therapy is considered the most effective first line of treatment for PTSD and several psychological interventions have been tested and proven very effective for diverse patient populations.

To learn more about the different modalities of PTSD treatment, visit the National Center for PTSD from the VA Administration. And call a therapist.