Basic Facts to Know about
Trauma and PTSD
Trauma and PTSD
Traumatic events can happen to anyone. Traumatic experience can leave a person feeling frightened, distressed, anxious, guilty, helpless and disconnected. Moving forward after trauma can be remarkably difficult. Oftentimes individuals will experience intrusive symptoms afterward, many later developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post-traumatic stress disorder can be overwhelming and frightening. It can leave many feeling isolated and alone. Seeking the help of a trained trauma therapist can be helpful.
Trauma: What Is It?
Trauma is a distressing experience that can cause extreme pain and fear. It can leave you feeling emotionally overwhelmed. It can disable your natural abilities to adjust or integrate your emotional experience, so that you feel threatened the majority of the time. It can impair your functioning and prevent you from living your life as you would like.
Trauma is a unique, subjective experience. The way people respond to trauma is highly variable. This means that the impact of a distressing event can be different for different people; there are vast differences in the way people perceive their experiences. Some may work through their trauma, but some may develop extreme and prolonged symptoms of PTSD.
What Is PTSD?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), post-traumatic stress disorder “is a disorder that develops in some people who have seen or lived through a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.” While not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop PTSD, a significant number do. The Sidran Institute shares that about “70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives and up to 20 percent of these people go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.”
When symptoms do not ease over time, the nervous system may get “stuck,” so that the usual responses that help you recover from trauma do not work. This means that you may have difficulty controlling your defensive “fight-or-flight” response or that you will feel frozen, even when the danger has already passed or was not present initially.
PTSD Symptoms to Watch Out For
PTSD symptoms may be felt almost immediately after the event, or start to manifest weeks, months, or even years later. A person with PTSD may have difficulty functioning in their daily lives, as they are chronically experiencing flashbacks and nightmares triggered by events, places, or people that remind them of what happened.
Symptoms may range from panic attacks to depression, intense anxiety, difficulty functioning, self-harm, and substance abuse. When you are reminded of your trauma, you may experience fast heartbeat, sweating, and queasiness. You may not be able to go to certain places or do certain things that trigger memories of the event, and may become isolated, numb, or uninterested in many facets of your normal life. You may also experience intense emotions, such as constant anger, irritability, and tension having difficulty eating, sleeping, or focusing.
PTSD can also affect children and adolescents. In fact, youngsters are very sensitive to trauma, but their symptoms may not be similar to those of grownups. Young children may exhibit regression, delay in achieving developmental milestones, act out, be unusually clingy with their parents and/or have difficulty in social situations. Older children may develop disruptive behaviors at home or school in addition to some symptoms similar to those of adults.
Where Can You Turn for Help with PTSD?
PTSD can leave you feeling lost and alone. These feelings and thoughts can make life difficult for you and your family. The stress can affect your progress at school or work, interfere with your interactions, and threaten your personal relationships and productivity.
If you or a loved one has experienced trauma and symptoms of PTSD, it can be important to seek professional help right away to prevent things from getting worse. PTSD is treatable, therapy can help. Call Carolina Counseling Services – Pittsboro, NC to schedule an appointment. CCS contracts with licensed, independent therapists that know PTSD, don’t wait, call today.