Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome --
What is It?

Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD was first identified during the period of First World War, wherein soldiers experienced nightmares, chronic anxiety, flashbacks that persisted for months or even years after combat. This condition is known as shell shock. The main essence of post traumatic stress disorder is building up of psychological symptoms that cause disability after a traumatic event.

There is no specific age of getting PTSD. It can happen anytime and in anyone after a severe trauma, which is the beyond the normal contours of human experience. It is stated that around 6 to 7 percent of Americans are suffering from PTSD.

The trauma experienced by the person leads to intense fear and feelings of helplessness and terror. These experiences might include natural disasters such as tornadoes and earthquakes. As mentioned earlier, other events that are beyond the human experience such as rape, assaults or other violent crimes can also lead to PTSD. It can occur to the person even if he/she is not involved in the trauma. That is, a person can get PTSD if he/she hears the news of a loved one being dead in an earthquake or any other catastrophic event.

The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are more long lasting and intense when the person himself is involved in the traumatic situation such as a violent crime. The major symptoms of PTSD include Emotional numbness, nightmares, repetitive thoughts about the traumatic event and others. When a person suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome, he/ she appear to be depressed and anxious. The person also exhibits a sudden impulsive of behavior and takes action without any kind of planning such as changing residence or going for a trip.

It is not that post traumatic stress syndrome starts immediately after experiencing the traumatic situation. You will get to know that you are suffering from PTSD only if you show the above-mentioned symptoms for more than a month. If they (symptoms) are not present in you for over a month’s time then you are most probably affected with acute stress disorder. Furthermore, these disturbances must affect your social and vocational life and cause huge amounts of emotional disturbance for you.

The causes of post-traumatic disorder can be majorly traumatic events which the person experiences. These traumas often include either witnessing or experiencing a serious accident, being a victim of torture or kidnapping, exposure to a natural disaster or a war and so on.

Though very complicated and having various facets, treatment of post-traumatic anxiety disorder is available. It mainly includes relaxation training which is common in treating all types of anxiety disorders, apart from relaxation training, cognitive therapy, Eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), hypnotherapy, support groups and exposure therapy. Medications also play a major role in treating Post traumatic stress disorder.

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