You may have PTSD if…

You may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if you have been exposed to one or more traumatic events. PTSD can cause a wide variety of problems such as re-experiencing fear-based emotional and behavioral symptoms.

In some cases, people may experience a loss of or lack of joy and may feel a state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life which may be quite distressing.

In other individuals, however, symptoms of feeling energetic and overreacting to environmental situations are striking. And still others feel disconnected from others, memories and personality predominate.

Examples of Traumatic Events

Examples of an experienced traumatic event can include direct exposure to war, actual or threatened physical assault, threatened or actual sexual assault such as forced penetration or abusive sexual contact; other examples include but are not limited to being kidnapped, taken hostage, torture, natural or man-made disaster and severe motor vehicle accident.

As a child, one may experience sexually violent acts that include developmentally inappropriate sexual experiences without physical violence or damaging physical harm. Although medical events that can be life threatening are certainly traumatic, medical events that are viewed as meeting criteria for PTSD involve sudden and traumatic qualities such as waking up during surgery or experiencing anaphylactic shock.

Some individuals may witness traumatic events such as unnatural death, physical or sexual abuse of another person, domestic violence, accident or life-threatening medical event in ones childhood.

What happens to someone with PTSD?

Individuals that experience PTSD re-experience the traumatic event in a number of ways: commonly the person with PTSD has recurrent, involuntary and intrusive recollections of the traumatic event and in order to differentiate between PTSD thought intrusion and depressive rumination, the PTSD intrusions must be involuntary and be characterized by distressing and intrusive memories of the event.

The strength of the criteria depends on recurrent memories of the event which commonly include sensory, emotional or physiological/behavioral components. Frequently a distressing dream of the event which replays the event itself or that represents the major threat involved in the event is experienced. Individuals with PTSD may also experience unusual feelings in which the components of the traumatic event are relived and the individual afflicted behaves as if the event were occurring at the moment. These events can occur on a continuum of short visual or sensory intrusions to total loss of awareness of the present surroundings. Often times, these episodes, which some refer to as “flash backs” are typically brief but lead to a prolonged sense of distress and/or heightened state of arousal. Acute psychological adversity or physiological reactivity occurs when the traumatized individual is exposed to triggering events that mimic or typify some aspect of the actual traumatic event. The triggering moment can be a physical feeling or an actual component of the event such as feeling dizzy for the survivor of a head injury.

Situations or feelings that are directly associated with the traumatic event are always or almost always avoided in a deliberate fashion.

At times, the individual with PTSD may have an ill temper or may even engage in aggressive behavior either verbally or physically with very little or even no provocation at all. Further, people with PTSD may also participate in dangerous impulsive behavior such as destructive actions which can include dangerous driving, drug or alcohol abuse or even suicidal threats or attempts. There are frequent occasions where PTSD is seen as or experienced as an increased sensitivity to potential threat such as those related to the traumatic occurrence like being afraid to ride in a vehicle after previously bein gin a traumatic accident.

Also those with PTSD can also be hyperreactive to unexpected things. These individuals may demonstrate an increased hyperstartle response, are “jumpy” or overreact to loud noises or unexpected movements. Problems with concentration can exist and include impaired recollection of daily events or attending to focused tasks. It is not uncommon for people with PTSD to have problems with the onset and or maintenance of sleep. Sleep may be associated with nightmares and safety concerns or a general sense of tension and vigilance.

NEXT – Who are PTSD Specialists?