Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that is triggered by witnessing or experiencing a terrifying event. If you or a loved one is experiencing PTSD, learning about the condition is one of the best steps towards recovery. Here are some of the most important terms to know about PTSD:
- Intrusive memories: This is the most common symptom of PTSD, and it is often the most difficult to overcome as well. Intrusive memories include flashbacks, recurrent and unwanted memories of the event, distressing nightmares, and severe emotional or physical reactions to being reminded of the event.
- Avoidance: Avoiding thinking or talking about something that caused you great stress is natural, but in the case of PTSD, extreme avoidance can be harmful to your recovery process and even make your symptoms worse. Extreme avoidance includes completely avoiding places, activities, and even people who remind you of the traumatic event.
- Arousal symptoms: Any change in your emotional reactions is classified as an arousal symptom. Becoming extremely emotionally aroused is very common in people with PTSD, which can lead to symptoms such as angry outbursts, aggressive behavior, trouble sleeping, always being on guard for danger, being easily startled, and participating in self-destructive behavior such as driving too fast or excessively drinking.
- Negative changes in mood and thinking: This is often the hardest symptom of PTSD for both you and your family to accept and understand. Negative changes can include negative feelings about yourself and those around you, feeling emotionally numb, being unable to experience positive emotions, and a lack of interest in activities you once enjoyed. All of these things can lead to a difficulty in maintaining close relationships.
- Suicidal thoughts: The symptoms of PTSD can often be very intense and hard to deal with. For this reason, having suicidal thoughts while suffering from PTSD is not uncommon. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, seek help immediately.
- Inherited mental health risks: While it is possible for anyone to develop PTSD, not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop the condition. As with most mental health problems, there are contributing factors that increase your risk for developing PTSD, and one of them is having an elevated, inherited risk of anxiety and depression.
- Temperament: Another factor that determines your overall risk for developing PTSD after experiencing a traumatic event is the inherited aspects of your personality, which is also known as your temperament.
- Psychotherapy: The best way to treat PTSD is psychotherapy, which includes different methods of behavioral therapy to help teach you skills for managing and overcoming your condition. Often, psychotherapy works best when used in conjunction with antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications.
- Cognitive therapy: This is a type of psychotherapy that helps you to recognize the cognitive patterns, or trains of thought, that are contributing to your negative and inaccurate ways of perceiving normal situations.
- Exposure therapy: This is another type of psychotherapy that is often used with cognitive therapy. Exposure therapy works to help you safely face what is frightening you so that you can learn how to cope with it effectively.
