Understanding PTSD

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a nervousness turmoil that can take place after one has been gone through a distressing incident. A traumatic incident is generally terrible and frightening that you witness or that occur to you. All through such events, one thinks that his/her life or their near and dear’s lives are at risk. One may also sense frightened or thinks that they have no direct power over what is occurring. Anyone who has experienced a life-threatening incident can build up PTSD. Such events include: • War or armed forces experiencern• Physical abuse • Attacks by Terroristsrn• Sexual or physical attackrn• Severe accidents, such as a car break. • Natural calamities, such as fire, cyclone, storm, flood, or volcanic activity Subsequent to the event, you may feel frightened, perplexed, or annoyed. If these emotions do not go away or they get shoddier, you may develop PTSD. The chances of getting PTSD depend on several things, such as: • How severe the distress was or how long it lastedrn• If you lost some near one • How close you were to the incidentrn• How strong was your response • How much control you have on your actionsrn• How much assistance and support you receive after the incident PTSD Symptoms There are four types of PTSD symptoms: 1. Reliving the incident (also known as re-experiencing symptoms): Terrible reminiscences of the traumatic incident can be felt back any time. You may experience the same terror and repulsion that you had at the time of happening of actual event. One may have nightmares. You even may sense like you are re-living the event, also known as flashback. For example: On reading news report of a sexual assault may bring back those terrible memories of assault for a woman who has gone through this. 2. Stay away from situations that take you back to the dreadful incident: You may endeavor to stay away from places or people that activate memoirs of the traumatic incident. You may even avoid talking or thinking about the happening. For example: A person who faced a severe earthquake may steer clear of watching television shows or movies showing scenes of earthquakes. 3. Insensitivity: Another way to avoid bad memories of a terrifying incident is when victims find it hard to express their mind-set and feelings. In such cases victims like to stay away from relationships and relatives and do not possess any positive feelings. For example: You may not feel interested in doing activities that you used to enjoy a lot before the traumatic event. 4. State of hyper arousal: You may feel stressed out, or always vigilant and on the sentinel of threat. This state is referred as hyper arousal. It can cause you to be: o Abrupt and turn into irritated or short-tempered personrno Insomniac, i.e. Having a hard time sleeping.rno Inattentive i.e. getting trouble concentrating.rno Extra vigilant for your safety and always feel on guard.rno Very Startled at things that surprise you. It’s normal to depict some of these warning signs after facing any terrifying incident. If the symptoms go away after a few weeks, it is called acute stress disorder, or ASD. On the other hand if it last for more than a few weeks and turn out to be a continuous problem, it might be Post traumatic stress disorder …