Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is PTSD?

PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) is a serious psychological condition that often results from an emotionally traumatizing event. Patients suffering from this condition experience horrifying thoughts or on the contrary become emotionally numb, in most cases with people that were close to them before the event.

PTSD causes

Post-traumatic stress disorder has gained much public spotlight due to the problems experienced by war veterans, however this condition may result from other events that involve violence and pain, such as:

What is PTSD?

PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) is a serious psychological condition that often results from an emotionally traumatizing event. Patients suffering from this condition experience horrifying thoughts or on the contrary become emotionally numb, in most cases with people that were close to them before the event.

PTSD causes

Post-traumatic stress disorder has gained much public spotlight due to the problems experienced by war veterans, however this condition may result from other events that involve violence and pain, such as:

• Torture, rape, or mugging


• Kidnapping or being held captive


• Childhood abuse


• Serious transportation accidents


• Natural disasters

Events that usually cause this condition are typically putting the person's life or the life of a close individual into threat. Another type of events causing PTSD is witnessing a disastrous phenomenon, not taking part of it, such as seeing many people die during a train wreck or massive bombing.

PTSD symptoms

Regardless of the event that caused the condition, people report practically the same effects of it - recurring nightmares and daytime flashbacks. Other symptoms associated with this disorder include:

• Sleep disorders


• Emotional numbness


• Vulnerability


• Disinterest in everyday things


• Irritability


• Aggressive and violent behavior

People with PTSD try to avoid situations and places that may remind them of the actual event, because it can bring back unpleasant memories. That is why anniversaries of such events are also typically avoided by people with this condition.

PTSD diagnosis

The condition can be clinically diagnosed in case the symptoms persist occurring for a period longer than one month. Patients, who have been diagnosed with the condition usually develop it in about three months after the event has taken place and the course of disorder varies from one person to another. For some it may take a couple of months and the illness is gone, for others it may become chronic. In some cases the condition can manifest itself in a couple of years after the actual traumatizing event.

PTSD treatment

Patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are usually treated by medications (e.g. Xanax) and by psychological therapy, the both of which can be carefully combined to achieve maximum effect. Cognitive behavioral, group and exposure types of psychotherapy have been observed as the most effective in this condition, helping the patient overcome the effects of the event in a gradual manner. Medications that are employed in most cases of PTSD include serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepine antidepressants such as Xanax.

PTSD facts

About 5.2 million US citizens are affected by Post-traumatic stress disorder. And women are more prone to developing the condition than men.

The disorder can take place at any age, even when being a child, and some studies suggest that this type of anxiety disorders can actually be transmitted through generations.

This condition is typically observed in conjunction with depression, alcohol and drug abuse, or other anxiety disorders.

In complicated cases, the patient may have problem with socializing and having interpersonal communication, especially if the event was caused by a person (rape, torture, mugging, etc.)

Everyday situations can be a source of a flashback or intrusive image to the person with PTSD making him or her feel like the tragic event is happening all over again, and the person becomes detached from the real world.

However, having an experience of a traumatic event doesn't mean that the person will necessarily develop such a disorder.

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How to deal with stress and anxiety?

Sometimes it is necessary to recess your comprehending of anxiety and stress, and the way they hurt and help you. Read this article to get th eanswers to the questions: Are you worrying too much? When is it that anxiety is too much?

Stress and anxiety are pushing us to make needed alterations in our lives. They warn us when we could be in danger, and encourage us to do things to get us out of the danger. This danger could be any sort of menace to our emotional or physical health, starting with not doing well on an exam to being fired or losing a friend. In this manner, feelings of anxiety and stress are needed and healthy - without them we can not take actions for our own good.

Sometimes it is necessary to recess your comprehending of anxiety and stress, and the way they hurt and help you. Read this article to get th eanswers to the questions: Are you worrying too much? When is it that anxiety is too much?

Stress and anxiety are pushing us to make needed alterations in our lives. They warn us when we could be in danger, and encourage us to do things to get us out of the danger. This danger could be any sort of menace to our emotional or physical health, starting with not doing well on an exam to being fired or losing a friend. In this manner, feelings of anxiety and stress are needed and healthy - without them we can not take actions for our own good.

At which point anxiety and stress is too much?

The moment when anxiety and worry are becoming harmful is when they don't push us to act anymore. This might either be because we are worrying of the things that we can't control or that did not happen yet, or because we get immobilized by the anxiety and stress that we are feeling, rather than getting encouraged to take action. Whatever the cause is, this anxiety and worry could produce much stress on our bodies and intellects, and influence our well-being.

Tips for coping with anxiety

The best treatment for anxiety is introspection and action. Here are several simple tips to follow:

• Initially, look inside you. What induces you to worry? You should be precise. For certain conditions, this could be willingly plain; other times, you could really need to meditate about it. Talking to a friend or writing in a journal about it might assist you resolve your emotions.


• Second, settle what action has to be taken. Try to find out what part of the condition is under your administration. Estimate the trouble to find out whether the menace is real, or if you're blowing it out of dimension. If the trouble is simply a hypothetical circumstance or a worst script, settle if it's really probable that your frights will practically come to fulfillment.


• After that, make a scheme that attacks the part of the trouble that you can control. Taking action to maintain yourself is a good manner to direct nervous energy and supplies confirmation against your frights.


• As you made the introspection, try to let it go. Same as everything in life, this is simpler said than done, but practicing, you may get pretty versed at letting go of superfluous levels of anxiety and stress. You may do this by concentrating on something else, resembling yourself of the decisions you've worked on, or attempting some anxiety relief strategies that would help you feel more centralized and at peace, like meditation or prayer, listening to music, or logging about your emotions.

If you believe you still need some medical advice, you might talk to a physicain and ask about medicines such as Xanax. While Xanax, or similar drugs, are not the best way, but you might want to try it. Or, maybe you would want to talk it either to a friend of yours, or to an expert, depending on how serious your worry is and how much it is influencing your total stress level.

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