What is PTSD?
Mental health illness caused when someone is exposed to a traumatic event
Many people who go through a traumatic event will experience negative emotions, thoughts and memories. However, most people will feel better over time. When these negative reactions don’t go away, and interfere with someone’s daily life, then they might be suffering from PTSD.
What causes PTSD?
When someone is exposed to actual or threatened death, serious injury, sexual violence
Can be exposed by: experiencing, witnessing, learning, repeated exposure
Examples - witnessing a violent death, serious accidents, assaults, childbirth, physical health illness, war, terrorist attacks, natural disasters
Why are traumatic events so shocking?
Because we cannot make sense of them
Don’t fit the way in which we see the world, difficult to understand the meaning behind them
Show us bad things can happen to ourselves or people we love at any time - can make us feel unsafe and threatened
PTSD symptoms
Re-experiencing: memories, dreams, dissociative reactions, physical and psychological distress
Avoidance symptoms: dissociative amnesia, detachment, avoiding talking and thinking, avoiding associations
Mood symptoms: negative beliefs, blame, negative emotions, loss of interest, unable to feel positive emotions
Alertness and reactivity: hypervigilance, being startled easily, insomnia, difficulties concentrating, irritability, recklessness
Why does PTSD happen?
Psychological - repressing memories, replays to help us prepare better for it in the future, avoidance means you stop thinking about the trauma, hypervigilent so that you can act quickly
Adrenaline - adrenaline levels remain high due to stress - tense, irritable, insomnia
Hippocampus - high levels of stress hormones stop it from working properly, cause you to remember the event as if it is still happening rather than it being a past event
PTSD and careers
More likely in:
Intensive care staff
Emergency service workers
Social workers
Military personnel
When does PTSD start?
PTSD can start immediately after a traumatic event, or even weeks or months afterwards. Usually, symptoms start within 6 months of the event. Sometimes symptoms will start after 6 months, though this is less common. Unfortunately, many people will not ask for help when their symptoms first start.
PTSD cannot be diagnosed in the first month after a traumatic event. If you experience trauma symptoms straight away, and these are severe and prevent you from functioning, you might be experiencing an ‘acute stress disorder’.
What events are more likely to cause PTSD?
Sudden and unexpected
Goes on for a long time
Happens when you are trapped and can’t get away
Man-made
Causes many deaths
Causes mutilation
Involves children
Can children get PTSD?
PTSD can develop at any age. As well as the symptoms of PTSD experienced in adults, children can also experience:
Frightening dreams – may or may not reflect the actual traumatic event.
Repetitive play – Some children will act out the traumatic event when they are playing.
Physical symptoms – e.g. stomach aches and headaches.
Fear that their life will end soon
Tx
Psychotherapy, TF-CBT, EMDR (TF-CBT and EMDR are 1st line)
Antidepressants - if therapy has not worked
How can I support myself?
Keeping to your routine
Talk to someone you trust
Relaxation exercises
Go back to work or school
Eat and exercise regularly
Spend time with others
Expect to get better
Go back to where the traumatic event happened (when able to!)
