Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a person's intense, lengthy and sometimes delayed reaction to a stressful event. The immediate response to the event usually involves the individual feeling intense fear, helplessness or horror. Sometimes in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, there may be little or no response at the time but the reaction develops later.

Two of the most common feelings to develop over time in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are fear and anxiety. A trauma survivor may be more aware of risks or may overestimate how dangerous life is. People normally experience fear and anxiety in two main ways in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - by continuing to re-experience memories of the trauma and by feeling physically aroused. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not a depressive illness, but sufferer may appear to be depressed in mood. It occurs after someone has been in a situation which most people would find extremely stressful.

Other problems that may develop in sufferers of PTSD

• Depression
• Guilt and shame
• Anger
• Using drugs and alcohol

Causes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder develops in response to stressful events. These might include a serious threat or harm to someone's life, or witnessing this threat for example, as a result of a car accident, physical or sexual assault, disaster, torture or warfare. You can get Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after you have been:

• airplane crashes,
• terrorist bombings,
• inner-city violence,
• hit or harmed by someone in your family,
• domestic abuse,
• rape,
• war,
• genocide, and other disasters, both natural and human made.
• Those with a social environment that produces shame, guilt, stigmatization, or self-hatred
• In an event where you thought you might be killed

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment

If a person is aware that he is suffering from PTSD, the GP is likely to refer the patient to a psychologist specifically trained in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The treatment options described below can be offered alone or sometimes in combination with other treatments. Followings are the types of treatment options in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder -

Debriefing - An educational approach that explains what reactions a trauma survivor may experience and medication to improve the immediate sleep difficulties can be helpful.

Medication - An antidepressant such as one of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can significantly reduce many of the symptoms.

Specialist Assessment - Establishing what form of treatment would be most suitable for a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferer takes place over one to tree sessions depending on the complexity of the person's reaction and any past history of trauma. The therapist will agree a treatment program with the sufferer that may involve one or more therapeutic approaches.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy - This intervention normally involves a person attending between 12 and 24 treatment sessions. It seems to work best for those who have experienced a single traumatic event.

Eye movement Desensitization and reprocessing - EMDR is an effective new form of treatment using rapid rhythmic eye movements or lateral sound effects.

Dynamic psychotherapy - Treatment of this types usually involves weekly therapy sessions and can take a year or more.

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