Posttraumatic stress disorder is simply a disorder that can develop in human beings following a life-threatening event that has occurred in his or her life. Any individual who has ever experienced such an event tends to keep away from things that might remind them of the past traumatic events.
Posttraumatic stress disorder has a number of causes that include psychological trauma, which can be caused by emotional or physical abuse. Some events that cause trauma can either be rape, accidents, war, illnesses, natural disasters or violent assaults, and many more.
People who are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorders have different symptoms that can last for a couple of days but lift with time (Friedman, 2000). Some people have nightmares, feel numb, and sometimes experience difficulties in stopping having thoughts about what happened. To some people, the symptoms are triggered by activities that make them remember what took place.
Symptoms
There are at least four symptoms of traumas that include experiencing the traumatic event for the second time. When one experiences the event again, he or she gets upsetting memories concerning the event. He or she can also remember past events where they act as if the event is happening again. They sometimes start having nightmares of some frightening events.
There are also some people who feel nausea or even start sweating whenever. The second indication of posttraumatic stress disorder is avoiding anything that will make them remember the event.
The victim keeps away from the people and anything that recollects back the memories of that event. A person can also decide to avoid talking or even thinking about traumatizing past events. There are cases for those who choose to keep themselves busy so that they can shun all the thoughts and talks.
Another symptom is numbing, where one cannot explain what he or she feels. When an individual is numb, he or she loses interest in all kinds of activities and even in life. They normally experience a sense of being lonely where they end up disassociating themselves from others. Most of them think that they need not live in that their life is totally changed.
The fourth symptom is greater stimulation than before, and this is where one has a hard time in getting some sleep. These kinds of people stay awake for long hours without falling asleep due to fear or other factors. They sometimes have a lot of anger, whereby they outburst it to those who seem to bore them. They then try to distance themselves from others because they do not want to be nagged.
People like these have difficulties in concentrating where they find themselves being absent-minded whenever one is talking to them. They also feel nervous and can be easily worried. They find themselves living in a world of tension, and in case of any minor action, they become startled (Kinchin, 2004).
There are other common symptoms, and they include feeling guilty, being ashamed of your self, or even blaming yourself for anything wrong that happens. Some people opt using drugs or even think of committing suicide. There are others who are hopeless in life, feel lonely, have headaches or stomachaches.
People who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder are advised to seek help immediately when they realize it. These kinds of problems are supposed to be confronted earlier so that one can overcome them easily. Victims should then look for a therapist who will deal with their problems. It is also important for one to identify a therapist with whom they are comfortable. People with such problems need someone who respects and understands them.
Treatment
There are a number of treatments that meant posttraumatic stress disorder that helps them to relieve the symptoms by dealing with the traumas. During treatment, one is encouraged to remember everything about the event, and this helps one to restore his or her sense of control and move on with life normally.
Some of the types of treatment offered to posttraumatic stress disorder include cognitive and behavioral therapy (Myers, 2007). This is where the therapist encourages you to carefully expose yourself to feelings, thoughts, and even situations that will help you remember the trauma. During this treatment, one thinks about the upsetting things and then replaces them with thoughts that have a better picture.
For example, if the trauma was caused by an event of war, one exposes him or herself to things that are related to that event. In this case, one can watch a movie about war so that he or she can remember the event. He or she can also think about raising a fight against someone else and then replace the thought with a peaceful moment.
There is also the treatment of Eye- Movement- Desensitization and Reprocessing. Following cognitive and behavioral therapy, the EMDR stimulates someone and helps in unfreezing the brain. In this kind of treatment, the therapist uses sounds to stimulate the person who is affected.
Another type of treatment is family therapy that helps to bring someone close to his or her family. It helps relatives to understand you and accept you as one of them. There is also another treatment of medication where one can say drugs being prescribed to him or her so that it can relieve secondary symptoms.
References
Myers, D.G. (2007). Psychology, eighth edition, in modules. New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN: 0-7167-7927-7.
Friedman, M (2000). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Journal of the Treatment Strategies, 32(6), 47.
Kinchin, D. (2004). Research advances in rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285(5), 648-650.