Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a condition that used to be called shell shock or battle fatigue syndrome. This condition does not just impact soldiers or members of the military, however. Anyone who has suffered from a traumatic event can have PTSD that is related to the trauma they experienced.
PTSD is a lasting consequence of an ordeal that causes someone to feel horror, fear, or helplessness. Things like sexual assault, war, or natural disasters can all cause PTSD. Emergency personnel and rescue workers can also develop PTSD due to helping others who are in dangerous situations.
In most cases, PTSD symptoms are not experienced until about three months after the inciting event. PTSD symptoms can vary in severity, and the duration of PTSD symptoms can be as short as a few months, or they can last a lifetime.
The most common symptoms of PTSD are:
Young children with PTSD can have trouble learning social behaviours and might struggle with language and motor skills.
The cause of PTSD is an event or experience that a person finds to be traumatic. This might be a car accident, going to war, being abused by a parent, or any other kind of experience that caused fear and anxiety.
The risk factors for PTSD are:
PTSD is not diagnosed until a month after the traumatic event takes place. It is normal to have to adjust to life after an event that scared you severely or caused you emotional distress. However, if you are still experiencing symptoms after a month, you will likely be given a diagnosis of PTSD.
Psychologists, medical doctors, and psychiatrists typically work together to confirm a PTSD diagnosis. Brain scans might be taken to look for traumatic brain injuries, and your medical doctor might also take a look at your blood work and some other tests to make sure that you do not have other health conditions.
You cannot prevent PTSD. Being scared of traumatic events is normal and healthy. If you were abused, were in a life-threatening situation, or have gone to war, your body reacted with fear to help keep you safe during this period of your life. Preventing the changes to your brain that are caused by intense emotional reactions or fear is not really possible.
Treatment of PTSD can vary from patient to patient. Some patients will be given antidepressant medications like Prozac or Paxil, while others will be given mood stabilisers like Depakote or Lamictal. The severity of the symptoms will dictate which medications are necessary to help those suffering from PTSD to be able to feel better.
Cognitive behavioural therapy is commonly used to help retrain the brain to react to fear in a more manageable way, and family counselling or group therapy can be helpful as well. There are always new and experimental treatments that are being developed for PTSD, and some patients might be invited to participate in these studies to seek improvement of their condition.