Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is PTSD?

PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) is a serious psychological condition that often results from an emotionally traumatizing event. Patients suffering from this condition experience horrifying thoughts or on the contrary become emotionally numb, in most cases with people that were close to them before the event.

PTSD causes

Post-traumatic stress disorder has gained much public spotlight due to the problems experienced by war veterans, however this condition may result from other events that involve violence and pain, such as:

* Torture, rape, or mugging
* Kidnapping or being held captive
* Childhood abuse
* Serious transportation accidents
* Natural disasters

Events that usually cause this condition are typically putting the person's life or the life of a close individual into threat. Another type of events causing PTSD is witnessing a disastrous phenomenon, not taking part of it, such as seeing many people die during a train wreck or massive bombing.

PTSD symptoms

Regardless of the event that caused the condition, people report practically the same effects of it – recurring nightmares and daytime flashbacks. Other symptoms associated with this disorder include:

* Sleep disorders
* Emotional numbness
* Vulnerability
* Disinterest in everyday things
* Irritability
* Aggressive and violent behavior

People with PTSD try to avoid situations and places that may remind them of the actual event, because it can bring back unpleasant memories. That is why anniversaries of such events are also typically avoided by people with this condition.

PTSD diagnosis

The condition can be clinically diagnosed in case the symptoms persist occurring for a period longer than one month. Patients, who have been diagnosed with the condition usually develop it in about three months after the event has taken place and the course of disorder varies from one person to another. For some it may take a couple of months and the illness is gone, for others it may become chronic. In some cases the condition can manifest itself in a couple of years after the actual traumatizing event.

PTSD treatment

Patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are usually treated by medications and by psychological therapy, the both of which can be carefully combined to achieve maximum effect. Cognitive behavioral, group and exposure types of psychotherapy have been observed as the most effective in this condition, helping the patient overcome the effects of the event in a gradual manner. Medications that are employed in most cases of PTSD include serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepine antidepressants such as Xanax.

PTSD facts

About 5.2 million US citizens are affected by Post-traumatic stress disorder. And women are more prone to developing the condition than men.

The disorder can take place at any age, even when being a child, and some studies suggest that this type of anxiety disorders can actually be transmitted through generations.

This condition is typically observed in conjunction with depression, alcohol and drug abuse, or other anxiety disorders.

In complicated cases, the patient may have problem with socializing and having interpersonal communication, especially if the event was caused by a person (rape, torture, mugging, etc.)

Everyday situations can be a source of a flashback or intrusive image to the person with PTSD making him or her feel like the tragic event is happening all over again, and the person becomes detached from the real world.

However, having an experience of a traumatic event doesn't mean that the person will necessarily develop such a disorder.