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eLearning Series: Mental Illness
Explain Mental Illnesses To Me
What
Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post traumatic stress disorder, also known
as PTSD can be found in several different types of people.
It is defined as an anxiety disorder that is heightened when
goes through a traumatic event. Violent personal assaults,
natural disasters, accidents, military combat, and other traumatic
and stressful situations that may occur all may be a cause
of PTSD. If you have been through one of these acts, you can
recognize PTSD through several different occurrences that may
go through your mind.
PTSD is not anything that is limited to an age group or a
type of personality. It is said that over 52 million Americans
have PTSD in a given year. If you have been through an experience
that is traumatic in your mind, your brain will react by trying
to rebalance the chemicals in your brain and justify the trauma
that you have been through. When you are in a situation that
causes fear, there is a rapid response from your body that
moves to the amygdala of the brain. This is supposed to protect
you in those fearful situations. You will also produce opiates,
which is used to mask pain.
PTSD will then take these bodily reactions and reuse it through
the memories associated with the traumatic event, causing both
the reactions from the brain and hormones to be reproduced
at the same level. If you have PTSD, you can recognize it through
several mental and physical symptoms. These symptoms will be
diagnosed as PTSD if they last for more than one month.
The first way in which PTSD can be recognized is through flashbacks occurring. These may occur when you are sleeping or when you
are awake. Several who have been through a traumatic event
may find that something will trigger the event that they went
through, such as a situation or a noise. They will then react
by believing they are back in the situation, causing them to
take the same actions they did back then. This is a trigger
from the brain to protect them from what they have associated
as the traumatic event. PTSD can take the form of flashbacks
while you are awake, memories or nightmares. Often times, when
the date of the event occurs, the person with PTSD will automatically
flash back.
Another part of PTSD is the emotional and psychological
attachments of the memories. Depression, anxiety and uncontrolled anger
are a few of the reactions that will occur along with the flashbacks.
These emotions are usually suppressed or uncontrollable in
situations where one is reminded of the traumatic situation
that they were in.
Another element of PTSD is the physical
reaction that will
occur during the flashbacks. Headaches, immune system problems,
dizziness, chest pain, and discomfort in different areas of
the body are often a part of PTSD. If the trauma that you were
involved in caused a certain part of your body to have a significant
amount of pain, then the anxiety may react physically as well.
If you think that you may have PTSD, it is a curable symptom.
Therapy to re-live the experiences that were traumatic to you
is one way in which you can cure this mental disorder. Through
this reliving, you are able to be in a controlled environment,
where you can take back the control which you felt like you
lost when living through the traumatic event.
Another way in which you can treat PTSD is through talking
about your experience soon after it happens. There are several
places that will debrief someone after they have been through
an experience. This causes the traumatic experience to not
be internalized as much, allowing you to not have to go through
the same reactions. By not allowing the emotions and anxiety
from the event to be suppressed, it eliminates some of the
PTSD from being given a chance to occur.
Having PTSD is a natural way for the brain and body to communicate
with you about a traumatic situation. Through flashbacks, mental
symptoms and physical problems, you can easily recognized PTSD.
Allowing yourself to get help for PTSD can help you in relieving
these symptoms and moving back to a normal life, away from
the trauma that occurred. # # # # #
by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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