Post traumatic stress disorderor PTSD is an invisible epidemic which may bring devastating effects on individuals suffering from it and their families. It is a psychiatric disorder which affects mental or psychological immunity of a person to combat stress. In such condition, patients find it difficult to cope up with normal stress and fall into the grip of severe depression and many other serious diseases. The most common cause of PTSD is witnessing traumatic experiences such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like child abuse and rape etc. In some persons, such traumatic experiences trigger set of negative emotional reactions that lasts for many months or even years.
Symptoms of PTSD
The doctors usually recognize post traumatic stress disorder on the basis of certain symptoms. Such symptoms are visible among patients either immediately or after a delay of weeks or months of witnessing a traumatic incidence. Symptoms of PTSD are discussed as follows:
1) "Reliving" the event is one of the most common symptoms of PTSD. The people in grip of PTSD generally find it difficult to come out of the memories of the event and their mind keeps on brooding over same situation again and again. Such conditions may include:
- Flashback episodes, where the event seems to be happening again and again
- Repeated memoriesof the event
- Strong, uncomfortable reactions to situations that remind you of the event
2) Avoidance – Avoidance is another major symptom visible among people suffering from PTSD. Such condition has adverse impact on person’s reaction to people and events around them. Such reaction may be in following ways:
- Feeling numb or detached to situations and people
- Inability to remember important aspects of the trauma
- Developing social behavior of avoidance such as avoiding places, people and thoughts arousing memories of traumatic incidence
- Severe depression
3. Arousal: Many people suffering from PTSD respond extraordinarily to the situations or events. It can be in the following ways:
- Lack of concentration
- Startling easily
- Hyper vigilance
- Expressing irritable behavior
- Having trouble falling or staying asleep
Apart from above mentioned symptoms, a person suffering from PTSD usually expresses combined symptoms which are typical of anxiety, stress, tension and depression.
The treatment for post traumatic stress disorder includes both medication and psychotherapy. In order to treat such disorder, a combination treatment of psychotherapies and medication is provided. The effective psychotherapies for getting rid of PTSD include cognitive behavioural therapy, group therapy and eye movement desensitization &reprocessing (EMDR). Apart from therapies, doctors also provide certain antidepressant tablets for reducing PTSD symptoms and reliving any kind of depression in patient. Doctors provide a comprehensive combination of medicines and therapies to help patients suffering from PTSD. However, love and support from family and friends is one of the most essential requirements for prevention as well as cure of post traumatic stress disorder.
