Posttraumatic stress disorder is treated in a number of ways. Psychotherapy is an essential part of PTSD treatment. Before symptoms can be resolved, it is often necessary for a patient to talk through the trauma and to understand what has happened so that they can change any inaccurate or irrational ways of thinking. It is also important for patients to realize how many other people suffer from the condition and to work to get rid of the sense of shame that many people with PTSD carry.
An important part of PTSD is learning to manage or cope with specific symptoms. Breathing exercises can help with anger and anxiety, and anger management classes can help significantly with mood outbursts. Only after a patient has learned breathing techniques and relaxation techniques to help them deal with strong emotions will practitioners start using therapy to help the patient remember the trauma to help adjust their beliefs and thoughts surrounding the event.
Studies also show that helping to treat individual sleep problems that accompany PTSD can help to treat the condition as a whole. Relaxation techniques, positive self-talk, and learning to deal with nightmares can all help reduce symptoms of PTSD. It may also be helpful for family members living with someone with PTSD to engage in counseling as well as conflict resolution classes. Learning how to best deal with someone who has PTSD and how to best communicate with them can be helpful for everyone within the family.
Complex PTSD
complex PTSD
Before closing this chapter, it is important to take a look at a disorder known as complex PTSD. This disorder is similar in many ways to post traumatic stress disorder except that it describes the symptoms of PTSD experienced by people who have undergone long term trauma. Complex PTSD is common for people who have undergone domestic violence, POW or concentration camps, long-term physical or sexual abuse, and other chronic situations. During a long-term trauma, a victim is or feels captive, both physically and emotionally and is unable to flee. This can lead to the development of complex PTSD, which has many different symptoms from a regular clinical diagnosis of PTSD.
Complex PTSD differs from a traditional diagnosis of PTSD in a number of ways. While traditional PTSD symptoms are still present, chronic PTSD also typically alters a patient’s self-concept as well as their consciousness. Many of the symptoms frequently diagnosed as borderline personality disorder can also be attributed to complex PTSD.
Symptoms of complex PTSD typically include:
- Alterations in the regulation of emotion, such as suicidal ideations, persistent sadness or dysphoria, self injurious or self harming behaviors, or explosive or inhibited anger
- Alterations in consciousness, which can include forgetting traumatic events as well as periods of feeling detached from one’s body or one’s mental processes. Dissociation is common for people with this diagnosis.
- Changes in how the person views themselves, such as feelings of guilt, shame, or helplessness. It is also common for people with complex PTSD to feel detached or different from other people.
- Changes in how the person views the perpetrator of the trauma, such as feeling that the perpetrator is unrealistically or totally powerful, or feeling preoccupied with the perpetrator or with thoughts of revenge.
- Changes in relations with other people, including distrust, disruptions in intimate or romantic relationships, withdrawal that alternates with the repeated search for a rescuer, or isolation.
- Changes in views of the world, such as a loss of faith in humanity, a loss of sustaining religious faith, and a sense of hopelessness about the future.
Dissociation, which is a sense of feeling removed from one’s surroundings, of watching things happen without consciously playing a part, or even of going through actions and conversations without being aware of them, is common with both PTSD and borderline personality disorder, making it hard for the proper diagnosis to be given in some cases. People with complex PTSD often exhibit other symptoms of borderline personality disorder as well, including a tendency towards self-harm and self-mutilation as well as a tendency towards alcohol and substance use.
Summary
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops as the brain and body’s response to trauma. The symptoms of PTSD are initially developed as a means of coping with severe emotional or physical pain, but as time goes by, the body continues to produce exaggerated reactions to certain triggers and to produce unwelcome symptoms. If you believe that you or someone you know might have PTSD, speaking with someone who can help is important.
Could I Have PTSD?
If you are wondering if you might be suffering from PTSD, the following questions can offer you a great starting point when speaking to your doctor or mental health professional. PTSD can be debilitating, but treatment can be immensely beneficial.
Have you experienced or witnessed an event that involved death or the threat of death or serious injury to yourself or others?
Have you experienced an event that involved a threat to the physical integrity of yourself or others?
If you have answered yes to one of these questions, consider the following questions.
Do you have recurrent images, perceptions, or thoughts of the event or intrusive and distressing recollections of the event?
Do you have recurrent distressing dreams of the traumatic event?
Do you ever act or feel as though the event were recurring, such as illusions, hallucinations, flashback episodes, or reliving the experience?
Do you experience intense psychological distress at exposure to cues that symbolize an aspect of the traumatic event?
Do you experience a physical reaction (sweating, heart palpitations) when exposed to cues that resemble an aspect of the traumatic event?
If you answered yes to one of these questions, consider the following:
Do you make efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations related to or associated with the traumatic event?
Do you make efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that cause recollections of the trauma?
Do you have an inability to recall one or more important aspects of the trauma?
Do you experience a noticeably diminished interest in or participation in significant activities?
Do you experience a feeling of detachment or estrangement from other people?
Do you feel a restricted range of emotions?
If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, consider the following:
Do you have trouble falling or staying asleep?
Do you experience irritability or sudden outbursts of anger?
Do you experience difficulty concentrating?
Do you experience hypervigilance, or a state of constant arousal?
Do you have an exaggerated startle response, or are you exceptionally jumpy?
If you also answered yes to at least two of these questions and have been experiencing these symptoms for more than one month, it is very important that you speak with someone about the possibility of PTSD. Even if you meet only some of the criteria, talking with someone can help you reach a diagnosis so that you can seek treatment to help stop bothersome, unwanted, and disturbing symptoms.
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