Post-traumatic stress syndrome – how to recognize and overcome? Psychotherapist answers

When a person experiences a traumatic event, disaster, violence, or pain, it takes a long time for them to recover, but over time their condition stabilizes. If there is no improvement, we can talk about the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

psychologist, psychotherapist

“I will tell you what can cause PTSD, what are its signs and how to cope with it”.

What is PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a deviation in a person’s behavior after a traumatic situation that seriously affects their safety. This condition develops due to the severe strain on the psyche at the time of the disaster. The victim loses the ability to act actively, feeling powerless and lost.

When PTSD appeared

The existence of PTSD as a problem was recognized as early as the First World War. In the 40s of the last century, psychologists noticed that the disorder is not only in the military who returned from the battlefields. Deviations can also appear in everyday life, for example, after the death of a loved one, a painful separation or adultery.

Since then, almost all major schools of psychotherapy have developed their own treatment regimens for PTSD.

Causes of PTSD

The cause of the disorder is not always traumatic events. The likelihood of symptoms depends largely on a person’s gender, age, health status, and reaction to the situation. PTSD often affects those who are accustomed to suppressing feelings under stress. Sometimes children and the elderly suffer from the disease. This is due to mental instability and imperfect defense mechanisms and adaptive capabilities.

PTSD is a serious problem, at the onset of which it is important to seek professional help in time. Appropriate treatment will be prescribed to alleviate the condition: therapy, pharmacotherapy and patient support.

What symptoms help to recognize PTSD

With post-traumatic stress syndrome, the following abnormalities occur:

• high levels of anxiety;
• tenseness;
• heightened acute reactions to noise and unexpected events;
• sleep problems, outbursts of anger, panic attacks.

It is as if the person is constantly on the lookout for an external threat and ready to repel it in order to save himself. The quality of his life is noticeably decreasing: there is an increased risk of psychosomatic diseases, difficulties with concentration and communication.

A very characteristic sign for PTSD are flashbacks: vivid memories that recreate pictures of the traumatic event. They are most often triggered by triggers – pictures, smells, sounds that are associated with the trauma.

In addition, apathy or depressive states may appear. The person becomes periodically angry, irritable, and tries to avoid triggers and memories associated with the traumatic situation. He does not want to be near the place of tragedy, avoids talking and thinking about it.

All this leads to a distorted perception of reality and changes in the emotional sphere. Patients with PTSD are prone to suicidal thoughts and self-harm (intentional self-injury).

If the patient does not get better after a month since the catastrophic event, it can be assumed that he or she has developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

Consequences of PTSD and its impact on a person’s life

Post-traumatic stress disorder negatively affects the person himself and his immediate environment. The patient is in a painful state, which can not but affect his communication with the world.

PTSD results in alienation from family and friends, communication difficulties, social isolation, and the formation of addictions. The victim seeks a way to forget and relax, sometimes finding it, for example, in alcohol. Alcohol consumption dulls the acuteness of emotions, but negatively affects health and relationships with people.

The main social consequences of PTSD are problems in the interpersonal sphere and at work, which significantly impair the quality of life and psychological well-being.

Treatment of the disorder: methods and timing

For 80 years, psychologists have learned to completely cure patients with PTSD, but the timing and methods of therapy can vary, depending on the severity of symptoms and individual characteristics of the patient.

Treatment can take from six to eight weeks to six months. As a rule, the following methods are used:

• psychotherapy. Depending on the case, cognitive-behavioral, exposure, emotionally oriented therapy are used;

• pharmacotherapy. In some cases, medications (e.g., antidepressants) are prescribed;

• alternative therapies. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, art therapy are used.

What can I do on my own?

Recognize the problem

Understand the cause of what is happening and come to the conclusion that it is not the world around suddenly became hostile and full of danger. The main trouble is that your own psyche is knocked down, so it is necessary to work with it, turning to a specialist.

Master any breathing exercises

Breathing control allows you to break the vicious ring of a continuously agitated psyche and reduce the level of anxiety. About breathing practices written literally everywhere, but almost no one does them, although the effectiveness of the technique is clinically proven. It is significantly higher than most people think.

It is very important to start practicing in advance, in a safe environment: every day two or three times for 10 minutes to practice the same breathing pattern. For example, you can apply “square breathing”: three seconds – inhale, three seconds – pause, three seconds – exhale, three seconds – pause.

Then in a moment of flashback or worsening anxiety, you can switch to this type of breathing and help your nervous system relax. Just read the description of the technology and try to include it in the moment of crisis will not work, because the body reflects an invisible attack and can not focus on the breath. But if the practice is already well practiced, it will help to quickly calm down and reduce stress levels.

Learn to shift your attention

During flashbacks, it’s extremely helpful to find objects around you, force your will to focus on them and remember where you are. It may not work right away, and that’s okay, but together with breathing practice, you will speed up your escape from your inner reality and stabilize your state.

Depending on the severity of the problem, it is sometimes possible to alleviate the symptoms on your own, even without the help of a psychologist.