Have you experienced an event and after you found yourself suffering from lingering fear and anxiety? Do you feel it has become difficult to control how you think, feel, and behave?
Posttraumatic stress disorder - also known as PTSD - is reactivity to an event that was witnessed, experienced, or any other form of sensory input to a traumatic event.
A traumatic event is defined differently for each person. It is most commonly related to a natural disaster, a terrorist act, an act of war, a serious accident, rape, or any other violent personal assault. But, these are just some. Trauma can be anything that impacts you and is stored in your body in different ways. This trauma manifests in your everyday life and may happen suddenly or over time. It can be shaming to notice and sometimes we cope with behaviors that may not nourish and create safety, it may lead to a survival instinct and coping mechanisms.
It is believed that PTSD affects nearly four percent of the U.S. adult population. While it is usually linked with veterans who’ve experienced combat, PTSD occurs in all people regardless of age, race, nationality, or culture. In fact, women are twice as likely to experience PTSD than men.
What are the Symptoms of PTSD?
People with PTSD often experience intense thoughts and feelings related to their traumatic experiences. These can last for a long time after the initial event. Many people with PTSD also relive the event through flashbacks and nightmares.
People with PTSD often feel intense emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, and detachment from friends, family, and community members. They usually avoid people and situations that remind them of the traumatic event. Ordinary sounds or incidents such as a door banging or accidental touch in a crowd may cause a strong and uncontrollable reaction. They can feel disconnected from life and themselves. PTSD symptoms can mimic depression, anxiety, mania, and lability in personalities or can be comorbid with them. The critical thing to know about your symptoms is, this is your body's attempt to process something that happened to you and doesn't know how.
Those who have experienced multiple traumas in any form or time in their life may develop Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
How Can Treatment Help?
There are a variety of treatments that can be used to treat PTSD. However, there are three specific techniques that are consistently gaining research-based evidence of their effectiveness in successfully treating PTSD.
- EMDR – EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. This technique uses bilateral sensory input such as side-to-side eye movements to stimulate the brain to process difficult thoughts, memories, and emotions.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – CBT is a form of talk therapy that focuses on how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are related to one another. The goal of a CBT therapist is to help a client with PTSD return to a place of hope with a greater sense of being in control of their thoughts and behaviors.
Please do not think these are the only therapies that are utilized. I also incorporate Attachment Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and Psychoanalytical Approaches which can be discussed in treatment.
If you or a loved one suffer from PTSD and would like to explore treatment options, please reach out to me. I have personally seen amazing transformation through therapy and want to offer the help you need to enjoy life again. Having gone through my own childhood and complex trauma, for me, the journey was painful, discouraging, and at times unwanted. I can say finding the right therapy for you is of the utmost importance and I am here to help guide you in hearing your body and allowing it the space it needs to heal.