Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
While many people associated post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, with military service, this anxiety disorder can actually arise after any type of stressful or terrifying event. When bad things happen, your mind can suffer from injury just as much as your body. PTSD is the way that the brain shows that it has been injured by an extremely frightening ordeal.
There are several different events that can cause the mind enough to shock to develop PTSD. Some common sources of this problem include:
Experiencing natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes
Being victimized in a criminal attack such as robbery or rape
Suffering in a severe car accident
Learning of extremely terrible news
Undergoing emotional, physical, or mental abuse
Involvement in a civil conflict
When diagnosing a person with PTSD, doctors look for three different types of symptoms. First, a person who truly has this disorder will often repeatedly relive the event. This may be through nightmares or flashbacks. Additionally, PTSD will manifest itself as abnormal avoidance of certain things that remind you of your horrifying ordeal. You may feel uncomfortable around people, locations, or things that make you think about the traumatic occurrence. This avoidance can turn into a phobia or even an emotional dissociation as a way of protecting yourself.
Lastly, PTSD often causes you to become hyper aware of your surroundings. While it is normal to be vigilant, extreme arousal can result in insomnia and blackouts. Also, you may notice that you have become more irritable after the event. You may also lose your ability to concentrate as your mind is distracted by perceived threats around you. Doctors and researchers have found that true PTSD results in at least one reliving symptom, as well as two issues with hyper-arousal and three problems with abnormal avoidance issues.
Once doctors determine that you truly do have PTSD, there are several things that you can do to help you with your disorder. First, many people undergo counseling to help them become more aware of the disorder and how they can manage it. This also gives you a chance to talk about the terrifying ordeal to help get it out of your mind. You can also undergo therapy to help you move past the ramifications of your illness. In some cases, you may need anti-depressants to help you with your symptoms. This especially helps with your environmental hyper-arousal.
If you suffer from a personal injury or other traumatic experience, your body may not be the only thing that is injured. If you develop PTSD as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to financial compensation to help you with your suffering. For more information regarding your legal rights, please visit the website of the personal injury attorneys from Spiros & Wall, S.C., today.
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