Post traumatic stress disorder – Awareness monthly

Warning – If you suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder you might find this post a trigger.

This weeks post is based on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because this month (June) is post-traumatic stress disorder awareness month. So I thought I would highlight some information about it, it is one mental health illness which isn’t widely known about or many people talk about. It is talked about more now in the era we are in but not as much as it should be.

What is post-traumatic stress disorder?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder but it is not a generalised anxiety disorder, this anxiety disorder is normally caused by a very stressful time or situation which can be distressing and frightening. When an individual suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder they relive the specific event or situations over and over in their head which can be through nightmares or flashbacks this can cause the individual to feel isolated.

What causes post-traumatic stress disorder?

There are several different causes of post-traumatic stress disorder, each different individual can be triggered by something different, not one situation is the same for each individual suffering from a post-traumatic disorder. I’m going to highlight a few cases of post-traumatic stress disorder but these are definitely not all just a few examples –

⁃ car crash

⁃ War

⁃ Health problems

⁃ Assault

⁃ Death

⁃ childbirth

⁃ Traumatic experience

When an individual suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder it can come on in someone’s life either immediately after the specific event or it might occur weeks months years later, it is just different for each individual and the event which caused the PTSD.

Symptoms of PTSD –

The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder differ for each individual as the event in which they suffer from PTSD will be different for each individual. The symptoms in which individuals suffer when suffering from PTSD can impact individuals day to day life and can have a huge impact on it. One of the main symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder is re-experiencing the event several times in which the individual can vividly re-picture the time when the event occurred. When an individual re-experiences they can have –

⁃ flashbacks

⁃ Nightmares

⁃ Distressing images

⁃ Physical symptoms eg.sweating, trembling

⁃ Negative thoughts

Another symptom of PTSD is an avoidance of the specific traumatic event in which occurred when this happens the individual will try and avoid the specific memories, avoid talking about it and visiting the place or places which remind them of it. Some people will try to emotionally numb the traumatic event by not dealing with the actual feelings they feel, which will make the individual very withdrawn and isolated from society.

I hope this post helps you to understand what post-traumatic stress disorder is and how it might affect an individual life. You might not know that an individual is suffering from PTSD so just be respectful that someone might be suffering in silence.

If you would like to find out more about post-traumatic stress disorder, then you can find out more here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/

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Until next time 😊