PTSD: causes, symptoms, and how to cope

Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a mental condition that can be triggered after experiencing (directly or indirectly) a traumatic or terrifying event. Someone with PTSD may feel as if they are reliving a certain traumatic event through recurring memories, or could have flashbacks or vivid nightmares about their traumatic experience. Needless to say, PTSD can disrupt one’s life in terms of their job, health, relationships or simple everyday activities. Knowing the details behind this disorder is essential in order to learn how to better manage it. Although this condition increases the risk of developing conditions like depression and anxiety, there are ways to cope, and we will discuss that in this article.

Causes

PTSD can develop after experiencing or witnessing something stressful, terrifying, or in general, traumatic. There are many different scenarios that could lead to the development of this disorder, including serious accidents, assault, torture, war and conflict, and childhood or domestic abuse, among others, according to nhs.uk.

There’s no direct cause linked to the onset of PTSD, however there have been possible reasons suggested, such as the condition serving as a survival mechanism to help defend against future traumatic occurrences and helping to react more quickly in future crises. Another possible cause for PTSD is high adrenaline levels. According to nhs.uk, studies have shown that those with PTSD have abnormal stress hormone levels, producing higher amounts of “fight or flight” hormones even when there is no real danger.

Although the exact cause isn’t clear, those who have experienced depression and anxiety or having a parent with a mental condition are more likely to develop PTSD after experiencing some kind of trauma. This can be due to the person having a heightened sense of reactivity, limited coping resources, negative thinking patterns, and past trauma, all of which can lead to increased vulnerability when faced with new traumatic experiences.

According to SAMHSA.gov, PTSD can start at varying points for different people: some may experience symptoms soon after a traumatic event, and others could even experience symptoms years later that are just as serious, if not more.

Symptoms

PTSD can develop in 1 in 3 people who experience severe trauma. Someone who has experienced a frightening or terrifying event could experience symptoms of PTSD soon after the occurrence or even months or years later. According to SAMHSA, symptoms of the condition include but are not limited to:

Having flashbacks, especially to the traumatic event
Trouble sleeping
Loneliness or detachment
Having trouble focusing
Feeling worried or guilty
Angry outbursts
Frightening thoughts
Headaches or other physical pain

Other PTSD symptoms such as intrusive thoughts, hyperarousal, and emotional numbing, are similar to those of other conditions like depression and anxiety disorders.

More telling signs of PTSD include having intense distress at reminders of the traumatic experience, panicking when reminded of the trauma, extreme alertness, or other irritable or aggressive behaviors.

To meet the criteria for PTSD, patients must have symptoms for at least 1 month, and they must be severe enough to interfere with their daily lives.

Treatments for PTSD

According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are 4 strongly recommended treatment options for PTSD, one of which is cognitive behavioral therapy, which “focuses on the relationships among thoughts, feelings and behaviors; targets current problems and symptoms; and focuses on changing patterns of behaviors, thoughts and feelings that lead to difficulties in functioning.” Simply put, this type of treatment focusing on changing negative thought patterns to improve a patient’s overall mental health.

Cognitive Processing Therapy is another kind of treatment which focuses on modifying and challenging unhelpful thoughts or beliefs related specifically to the trauma.

Cognitive therapy in general entails interrupting the disturbing thought patterns in the patient’s daily life and by slowly approaching the patient’s memories and negative evaluations of the trauma they experienced.

Another type of therapy used is prolonged exposure, which helps patients gradually approach trauma related memories and slowly learn that that the trauma-related memories are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided.

There are several recommended treatment options for PTSD, one of which includes medications. There are four medications that have been conditionally recommended for the use of PTSD, according to the American Psychiatric Association, those being sertraline, paroxetine, fluoxetine, and venlafaxine.

Self-care mechanisms

Along with the treatment options, there are many coping mechanisms that patients can implement in their own lives to help facilitate the process of recovery.

Firstly, something that is not a coping mechanism is resorting to alcohol and drugs. Alcohol and drug dependence will further worsen your situation and will not do anything to improve symptoms in the long-term.
However, concentrating on slow breathing can help rid feelings of panic over frightening or traumatic memories.
Keeping a diary to note when you have flashbacks can help you find patterns in what triggers these experiences, and can help you avoid these triggers or adapt to them. This can make you more aware of the early signs of flashbacks or other symptoms.
Join a PTSD support group to learn more about others’ experiences and to be informed on new ways you can improve your condition.
Pursue outdoor activities and spend time with positive people to gain new experiences that can help gain a brighter worldview to ease the negative patterns and experiences.
Confide in people you trust, to avoid bottling up your emotions.

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