How to Deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD Explained
How do you deal with a PTSD attack? How to stop a PTSD attack? It might be challenging to know how to respond to a psychological crisis. First of all, know that you are not alone if you are having a PTSD attack. A lot of people want to help and are sympathetic to what you’re going through. But before we move to the solution, let’s first understand the term – ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Definition: A Quick Overview
A severe trauma or other PTSD trigger can result in the mental health illness post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Posttraumatic stress disorder meaning can be understood as recurrent flashbacks, nightmares, and a variety of other symptoms in reaction to suffering a trauma may help you to comprehend the distinctions between PTSD and trauma. A stressful incident may be followed by a PTSD diagnosis, although not all traumatic events cause PTSD.
In this blog, we’ll provide you with an in-depth breakdown to help you comprehend what you’re going through if you have stress trauma disorder and how to treat it, as well as heal from your traumatic experience and resume living the full, joyful, tranquil life you once knew.
What Causes Post-traumatic Stress?
After experiencing anything terrible, such as actual or near death, a severe bodily injury, or sexual abuse, people might acquire post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This could imply that they themselves underwent trauma, saw it happen, or learned that someone they care about underwent trauma. Additionally, exposure to other people’s trauma on a regular basis (such as while serving in the emergency services or the armed forces) can traumatize a person.
But not everyone who goes through a horrific incident will end up with PTSD. Most people will gradually feel better. Although the reasons why only certain people have PTSD are not fully understood, there are some posttraumatic stress disorder causes that can be risk factors for this condition, such as:
- Existing mental health conditions
- Having previously endured trauma
- Issues with substance abuse
- Having additional pressures, such as debt
- Suffering a catastrophic or nearly deadly injury
- Possessing a nervous personality, having gone through a traumatic trauma, suffering from sexual trauma, and having few social connections
- Uncontrollable trauma (such as a natural disaster)
What are the 17 Symptoms of PTSD?
The onset of symptoms can happen immediately after the incident or weeks, months, or even years later. PTSD symptoms include the following and can be both emotional and physical:
Stunning Flashbacks
One of the major post stress disorder symptoms is getting flashbacks. When you have a PTSD flashback, you experience your traumatic event again as if it were happening just now. These flashbacks can continue for a few seconds or for several hours.
Nightmares
Among the most typical PTSD symptoms, your unresolved trauma may manifest in your dreams, causing your body to produce stress hormones and keeping you from having a restful night’s sleep.
Self-Isolation
You can start to distance yourself from your loved ones, friends, and the larger community when you start to have flashbacks and have trouble sleeping due to the trauma. People with PTSD frequently feel the need to isolate in order to shield themselves from stimuli.
Depression
Following their horrific event, PTSD sufferers may feel depression for weeks, months, or even years. In fact, research indicates that 50% of PTSD patients also experience significant depressive disorders. It is one of the most common stress disorder symptoms.
Addiction to Drugs
Since alcohol and drugs can momentarily ease melancholy, panic, and anxiety, it is common for people with PTSD to develop a substance addiction issue. Unfortunately, using drugs or alcohol continuously to ease PTSD symptoms can cause addiction.
Avoiding Emotions
There are times when the mere thought of your experience is debilitating. You might eventually start to avoid discussing it out of concern that it will bring up flashbacks and unpleasant physical side effects like panic attacks. With this outlook, you run the risk of growing increasingly distant from family and friends.
Feeling on Edge, or Hyperarousal
You can experience PTSD and live in a perpetual state of terror and dread. As a result, you can be easily irritated and inclined to act aggressively. It can be emotionally taxing and difficult to deal with other acute stress disorder symptoms while you’re on edge.
Memory Loss
The hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex are all linked to both stress and memory, so memory loss can happen after a stressful experience as part of your brain’s defense mechanism. Traumatic memories may reemerge and cause severe discomfort if your PTSD is left untreated.
Trouble Concentrating
Your capacity for concentration is impaired by anxiety. Because their minds are clouded or stuck on what they have gone through, people who have experienced trauma sometimes suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder chronic and struggle to transition to work and home life.
Insomnia
People with PTSD frequently go through periods of incapacity to sleep because they can’t unwind enough at night. Unfortunately, some individuals use drugs or alcohol to relax.
Negative Outlook on the Present and Future
A traumatic experience may change how you see the world. This may lead to a sense of helplessness and the inability to envision upcoming achievements or reach old age. You might also begin to think poorly of yourself.
Additional PTSD symptoms
In addition to the symptoms listed above, PTSD can also manifest in six other ways where you need complex ptsd coping skills to deal with the situation. Here is the list:
- Enormous tension brought on by memories of your tragedy
- Physical signs include discomfort, perspiration, and nausea.
- Panic attacks and anxiety
- Struggle to control your emotions and experience emotional numbness
- Struggling to show affection for others
- Difficulty sustaining relationships in both personal and professional contexts
How to Treat Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
According to Boyd, “The type of trauma you underwent and how your PTSD symptoms affect your life will determine the suggested course of treatment.” There is no one-stop solution for posttraumatic stress disorder treatment that works for everyone, but recommended therapies include eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that is trauma-focused, and trauma-focused CBT. In addition to other acute stress disorder treatment techniques, medication may be employed. Exercise, mindfulness, and art treatments can be beneficial for certain people. If necessary, your general practitioner ought to be able to recommend you to a specialist.
How to Deal with PTSD? How to Help Someone with PTSD?
Encourage the individual to express his or her feelings and thoughts about the traumatic occurrence. A strong support system of friends, family, and medical experts can make a huge impact.
Clarify any misunderstandings the person could have regarding the matter. This is crucial when speaking to kids, who could be prone to feeling guilty. It is quite important mainly for those who are worried about how to deal with trauma from childhood.
Support the person in getting back to their regular daily routine. The comfort and emotional stability that daily routines and activities can offer you the solution whether you are looking on how to treat childhood trauma in adults or an adult trauma.
Suggest that they consult a doctor or look into community and local mental health resources in their area. Professionals are educated to assist disaster victims in coping with their emotions and answer on how to deal with trauma triggers.
Encourage the individual to look for efficient coping mechanisms. Overeating, drinking too much, and participating in risky activities only make matters worse. If you are continuously browsing on how to deal with trauma from the past, make sure to leave such habits.
If you are suffering from stress induced disorders and want to tackle it, focus on self-care, it is important. Eating well, exercising, and getting adequate sleep are all important.
Try to stay away from nicotine, as it may make your PTSD symptoms worse. Limiting caffeine may also be a good idea because it has been demonstrated to interfere with sleep, which might worsen your symptoms.
Join up for a support group. Joining a support group is a terrific opportunity to meet people who may be experiencing something similar to you.
A lot of people with untreated PTSD use drugs and alcohol to temporarily reduce their social anxiety or as a means of escaping undesirable thoughts and memories without any posttraumatic stress disorder test. Well, it is a wrong approch. Trying to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs can impede your recovery and lead to several other issues in the future. It is actually the worst thing to do to someone with PTSD.
Follow your treatment plan. Before your therapy and medication heal your PTSD symptoms, it can take some time.
Takeaway
The first and most crucial step in treating PTSD is to get expert treatment, the time you notich the PTSD symptoms. However, understanding and using the appropriate PTSD coping methods and abilities can be very helpful in your healing process, in addition to counseling and drugs. Self-care activities for PTSD can speed up the healing process, allowing you to better control PTSD symptoms and lead a happier, more fulfilling life.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calm PTSD?
Get enough rest, eat a nutritious diet, exercise, and relax are some simple strategies to reduce PTSD symptoms. Caffeine and nicotine should be limited or avoided as they might make anxiety worse. Never use self-medication. It may be tempting to use drink or drugs to dull your emotions, but doing so is unhealthy.
How do I get rid of PTSD flashbacks?
- First of all, admit that you are experiencing a flashback. Speaking to oneself in the literal sense, make a note of your current location and your safety.
- Second, remind yourself that the upsetting experience is over.
- Third, use all five of your senses to keep yourself in the present.
- Fourth, know what gives you a sense of security.
- Fifth, find the factors that cause your flashbacks.
Can a person with PTSD live a normal life?
Fortunately, a person’s trauma need not define their entire existence. After a traumatic occurrence, it is possible to return to normal with competent assistance.
Does PTSD ever go away?
Is PTSD curable? Well, the answer is yes. Within the first few weeks and months following the event, these symptoms disappear on their own for the majority of people. Some people’s symptoms may last for a long time, especially if they are left untreated.
What are the main types of PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including as uncomplicated, complex, dissociative, and comorbid PTSD.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder etiology?
After experiencing a startling, terrifying, or deadly event, some persons may acquire post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fear is a normal emotion both during and after a terrible event. The “fight-or-flight” reaction, which enables us to evade or deal with impending threats, includes fear.
