Symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder characterized by severe emotional stress and is the result of a frightening or in some cases, life threatening experience. A person suffering from PTSD often gets so disturbed by the notion of experiencing the same trauma again that they begin to avoid people, places, or events that may remind them of the same experience. In some cases, the person may even become hypersensitive to normal day to day experiences. Though not exactly the same, the symptoms of schizophrenia, symptoms of bipolar disorder, symptoms of anxiety disorder, symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder, symptoms of borderline personality disorder, and symptoms of depression may seem similar to the symptoms of PTSD.

Even though many may have suffered from this disorder, its diagnosis has only recently been recognized. In fact formal diagnosis of the disorder has only begun in the late 1980s. In cases of war, the symptoms of this trauma are especially evident in soldiers. However, for a long time, the disease was termed as ‘Soldier’s Heart’ simply because it was more evident in men of the uniform than anyone else.

If a person has prolonged exposure to a traumatic event, the disorder becomes more complex and is known as complex posttraumatic stress disorder. There was a time when this disorder was relatively unknown. However, recent statistics have revealed that as many as 7%-8% of people in the United States of America are likely to develop this disorder in some form or another.

Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
There are certain characteristic symptoms of this disorder. These symptoms are classified into three distinct groups. These are:

• Experiencing the distressing and traumatic event repeatedly – The patient may inadvertently experience memories which might seem troublesome to them. There may be frequent unpleasant flashbacks and the patient may relive the trauma again and again in their mind.
• Development of a phobia – The patient begins to fear people, places and events associated with the traumatic experience, to a point where these fears become phobias. In time, the patient may also begin to fear similar events or experiences which are related to the traumatic experience. As the disorder progresses, there may be a complete numbing of emotional response mechanism of the patient.
• Hyperarousal, or hypersensitivity towards normal experiences – The patient may experience chronic anger, irritability, sleep related problems, short term memory loss and a difficulty in focusing. In some cases, a person may also experience occasional blackouts.
• Patients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder need immediate medical attention so that the condition doesn’t become aggravated and can be controlled by counseling and medications, which is the general treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.