DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE MEMORIES THAT DON'T GO AWAY?
It’s
been months after you and your friend were involved in that near road accident
on that exciting night out at clubs. Despite the excitement of being almost hit
by another speeding car, while hearing screams from pedestrians and surviving
it like a scene in the latest action movie blockbuster from Hollywood, you both
have been up and about taking the most pictures to keep the memories of nights
out.
Fast
forward, a couple of months later, your friend begins to avoid getting into the
car when you both try going for a night out. You’ve been trying to encourage
them but to no avail. At some point you bring around the idea of a place you
both like and they can’t stand still. For a minute you brush it off as a bad
day.
Back
into your working day, you are up and about trying to manage every alert and
alarm that come about when trying to make a living on this earth, and suddenly
your friend pops up on phone again wishing to talk about that day.
As
you begin to get busy with your work for the day, trying to stretch every part
of yourself everywhere, so do the attempts to communicate from your friend.
You
take a deep breath in and hide yourself to try get a few make minutes to talk.
You talk enough to get them to relax, and then back to our boss looking for our
work and it isn’t particularly their best day.
After
the long day, you wish to rest and call it a day. Before you know it, your
friend is calling with the same story but this time they wish to be away from
their home after watching a car show in the middle of the night.
Why
is your friend still stuck up about that day and you aren’t? You almost feel
they may be a little too dramatic. You call it off, and tell them to stop
pretending about everything.
No
sooner have you brushed it off, have they also tried to call again and strike
up an easy conversation. As soon as you mention you’ll be driving or talk about
a road, the begin to start to breath heavily and stutter in their speech, and
the phone call is cut.
You
don’t know if your friend has started being agitated or is being dramatic, but they
can’t let go or keep talking about.
After
sometime you consider consulting a psychiatrist about the phenomenon and take
them to meet your friend. The doctor says, they are possible signs of
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
After
hearing this you begin blinking into thin air like a magic trick has just
happened before your eyes. How could your “dramatic” friend actually be dealing
with a disorder? What exactly is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Post-traumatic
stress disorder, is psychiatric disorder, that may occur in people who have
experience or witnessed a traumatic event or a series of events that are significantly
traumatic. The individual may experience this as emotionally or physically
harmful or life-threatening. This could lead to affecting the mental, physical,
social and/or spiritual well-being.
Fun
fact:
The discovery of PTSD occurred during the first and second World wars. In World
War 1, it was termed as “shell shock” and in World War 2, it was termed as “combat
fatigue”. This was due to the questionable behaviours exhibited by soldiers
after they return from war, which were replaying horrific memories and reacting
with unsettling anxiety, which often lasted long periods of time, and affected
their life.
Causes
of PTSD
The
main causes of PTSD often an involve experiencing or witnessing a traumatic
event. This could be:
-
Serious accidents
-
Childhood or domestic abuse
-
Exposure or involvement in war and
conflict
-
Death of someone close to you
-
Physical or sexual assault
However,
after a traumatic event, the individuals who witnessed or experienced it often
have different thresholds of being able to develop the symptoms of PTSD.
It
is not exactly understood why some individuals are prone to develop the
symptoms of PTSD, while others do not. However, some reasons could:
-
Individuals who have depression and
anxiety are often more prone to develop symptoms
-
Lack of support from family and friends
after a traumatic event
-
Having a genetic predisposition, within
the family can create the likelihood of a PTSD manifesting in an individual
Some
of the reasons as to why PTSD tends to develop involve:
-
Survival mechanism:
This refers to the body’s ability to create mechanisms to prevent danger in
similar situations as the traumatic event. This could mean that some of the symptoms
of PTSD put one in a state of hyperarousal, in anticipation of the any event
that could be harmful. While they are helpful, some of the symptoms prevent one
from moving forward past the traumatic experience or witnessing.
-
High adrenaline levels:
Individuals with PTSD tend to have higher “flight or fright” hormones which
protect people from danger. Usually this happens only in situations when it is
required like being chased by a carnivore or escaping a speeding car. However, people
with PTSD have high adrenaline even in situations when danger isn’t present.
This is often due to the numbed emotions that people with PTSD harbor within
them
- Changes in the brain: Some areas of the brain are responsible for memories and emotions. One of those areas is the hippocampus, which is smaller for people who are suffering from PTSD. Changes in this part of the brain are believed to be related to fear and anxiety, and the improper processing of memories which leads to flashbacks and nightmares and thus creating fear and anxiety.
Signs
and Symptoms of Post Traumatic Disorder
https://continentalhospitals.com/blog/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-symptoms-and-treatment/
Individuals
who undergo PTSD, are often troubled with intense thoughts and feelings
concerning the traumatic event that occurred to them or that they witnessed,
for a significantly long time after the event has occurred or witnessed. These
are some of the signs and symptoms:
-
Reliving the experience through
flashbacks, intrusive memories or nightmares
-
Overwhelming emotions with flashbacks,
memories or nightmares
-
Unable to feel emotions and feeling
“numb”
-
Dissociation, which can involve
distancing one from oneself and others
-
Avoidance of the places in which the
trauma took place or was witnessed or things that are related to the place the
trauma was witnessed or experienced
Some
of the behaviours that occur as a result of the symptoms include:
-
Negative moods and thinking
-
Difficulty in being able to control your
emotions
-
Overwhelming feelings of anger,
irritability and constant anxiety
-
Difficulty in feeling pleasure
-
Heavy sense of guilt and shame
-
Negative self-perception
-
Issues when relating with others around
them & in their relationships
-
Problems trying to sleep and concentrate
-
Being in a constant and state of hyperarousal
-
Easily scare and startled
-
Self-destructive behaviour such as fast
driving and drinking too much alcohol
-
Feeling that they are under constant
threat of danger and have sensitive to things within their environment
Types
of PTSD
Despite
the general symptoms of PTSD that include having flashbacks and overwhelming
emotions and thoughts over the trauma experienced and witnessed, the range of
reactions to trauma vary, due to this, the spectrum of individuals displaying
an array of symptoms, are categorized into various types of PTSD, which
include:
-
Normal stress response:
Such a response after a traumatic experience or witnessing, involves the
natural physiological reactions to stress by the body, which includes, reading
the body from avoiding the situation or protecting itself by self-defense. They
are often not long-term and do not disrupt normal life. After the threat is
over, the body returns to its normal state. Psychotherapy (talk therapy) and
group talk therapy is often suitable for such scenarios
-
Acute Stress Disorder:
It is similar to PTSD and symptoms may appear between 3 days to 1 month after
the traumatic experience. Often the symptoms of the disorder could occur after
directly experiencing trauma, witness an event as it has occurred to someone
close to you, learned an event has occurred to someone close to you and having
repeated exposure to extreme details of the traumatic event. Psychotherapy and
cognitive behavioural therapy are ways in which helpful treatment is given.
- Dissociative
PTSD:
There is more research ongoing for this type of PTSD, however, it is
characterized by depersonalization or derealization, and emotional
detachment. Other characteristics of Dissociative PTSD, include, higher
levels of co-occurrence with other mental health conditions, dissociative
flashbacks and dissociative amnesia, more significant history of early
life trauma and more severe PTSD symptoms. The type of therapies
often suggested for this disorder include, cognitive processing therapy (CPT),
Prolonged exposure (PE), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
and narrative exposure therapy (NET)
- Uncomplicated
PTSD:
It is similar to PTSD, however, the main difference is that it does not coexist
with other preexisting mental health conditions. It is a commonly diagnosed
type of PTSD and is highly responsive to treatment.
- Complex
PTSD:
It often occurs when repeated or multiple traumas happen over periods of months
and years, like a violent attack or car accident. The chronic traumatic nature
of complex PTSD, can have its symptoms in childhood and adulthood, and presents
a challenge when relating with others. Trauma specialists often make a program
for patients and may took longer to treat, as recovery occurs at a slower rate.
- Co-morbid
PTSD:
It often has a co-occurring mental health condition, and the common ones being anxiety
disorder, panic disorder, major depressive disorder and substance
use disorder. It is a commonly diagnosed disorder, as many people have one
or more co-occurring mental health conditions. Treatment usually includes
addressing the PTSD and one or more mental health co-occurring mental health
conditions.
Treatment
of PTSD
Treatment
often comes in a number of therapies, which include:
-
Psychotherapy:
Also known as talk therapy, it involves talking with a mental health
professional, one-on-one or in a group setting. It may have relaxation and
anger management skills to help with one’s reaction to trauma.
-
Exposure therapy:
It involves facing aspects of the trauma and managing reactions by visiting
places of the traumatic events. This attempts to work against triggers.
-
Cognitive processing:
It involves helping the patient to make sense of the bad memories of the
trauma. The therapist often helps the patient work through the memories and
reexamine the frame or perspective in which it is being looked at.
-
Medications:
The most common medications used for treating PTSD are antidepressants. They
help lessen feelings of sadness, anger and anxiety. It may be a mode of
treatment added to your psychotherapy sessions, and it is always important to
your physician or healthcare provider for the medications that make the most
sense in managing your symptoms.
References
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/causes/
https://psychcentral.com/ptsd/types-of-ptsd
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd
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