PTSD

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition characterized by severe anxiety, flashbacks, and disruptive emotions following a traumatic experience. While it is often identified with combat experience, PTSD can arise from many types of trauma, such as:

• Violent physical assault
• Sexual assault
• Domestic violence
• Witnessing violent or traumatic acts
• Discovering the body of a loved one
• Disasters such as fire or earthquakes
• Automobile accidents
• Life-threatening experiences

PTSD occurs in people of all ages, and women are more likely to develop PTSD than men.

symptoms of PTSD

Most people who experience a traumatic event will have feelings of fear, anger, and other negative emotions for a while. When these feelings don’t go away after a reasonable amount of time or become worse, it may indicate the presence of PTSD.

PTSD can cause a wide range of symptoms that are different for each individual patient. Symptoms common in many cases of PTSD include:

• Intrusive thoughts 
• Vivid, involuntary memories or flashbacks
• Distressing dreams
• Angry outbursts
• Easy startle response
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event, such as people or places
• Negative thoughts and feelings about yourself and others

PTSD triggers a flight or fight response, which can cause physical symptoms like increased blood pressure or heart rate. Over time this can affect your physical health.

treatment for PTSD

 Your personalized treatment plan may include:

• Psychotherapy or counseling
• Antidepressant and/or anti-anxiety medications 
• Nutritional and lifestyle changes