Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Dr. Kathleen Ayers)
PTSD occurs after someone experiences a traumatic event. It is not so much the type of event, but that the person perceives the event to be life threatening, or extremely frightening. While some people can get past the event and show no after-effects, some people cannot. They continue to re-experience the traumatizing event. Sometimes they even begin to react to cues in their environment that might remind them of the trauma. For example, someone who has been in a car accident may simply want to avoid driving again. After driving again, he or she may avoid the place where the accident happened. Then he may begin to re-experience the trauma if he sees a car the same color, or make of the other car that was involved in the accident. Then he may react to ads for that type of car, or hearing the name of that type of car. He may then drive less to avoid seeing that type of car, and may avoid reading the newspaper to he won’t see ads for that type of car.
If someone’s house has been broken into, she cannot easily avoid the scene of the trauma. She lives in it daily. She may overreact to sounds outside of the house, fearing another break-in. She may not be able to stay there alone, or may stay there but have trouble sleeping.
In both of these cases, the individual is re-experiencing their trauma. It is as though they are literally re-living it. They feel stuck and unable to move on, because they are reminded so frequently of the trauma. Their memories control them; they don’t control their reactions to their memories.
PTSD seems to develop when someone who has gone through a traumatic event tries to suppress these memories instead of experiencing them early after the trauma. The memories don’t just go away. They are always there, ready to re-appear in an instant, with no warning. Sometimes the memories reappear as nightmares, which is another symptom of PTSD. The individual then does not want to go to sleep, or fears sleeping, because of the trauma of the nightmares.
Sometimes the individual goes on to become depressed or anxious because of the PTSD. Their relationships may fall apart, because family members don’t understand the symptoms, or wonder why the other person can’t “just get over it and move on.” If the trauma occurred at work, that person may be unable to return to work because of the PTSD.
PTSD can also occur many months after the trauma. The individual seems to be dealing with the trauma at first, but months later begin having symptoms. Some people never seek treatment for their PTSD, and their symptoms become chronic. PTSD can also occur even if the individual has had loss of consciousness, though this used to be disputed. Research has shown that PTSD can still occur and be just as bad as for someone who has full memory for the trauma. However, PTSD is still treatable. People can learn to deal with the traumatic elements and learn to reduce the anxiety, depression, and nightmares. They can learn to control their symptoms enough to return to work and to lead normal lives again.