Learn More About Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment
Post traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) is a disorder known to be developed after a person experienced a traumatic event wherein the individual’s safety was threaten and he/she felt helpless. Overwhelming life experiences can prompt PTSD especially if the situation is unpredictable and out of control. It can even affect the friends and family members of those who have experienced the actual trauma.
Some of the traumatic events that may lead to PTSD include war, natural disaster, terrorist attacks, rape, kidnapping, car or plane crash and sexual or physical abuse.
PTSD development may vary from person to person. The symptoms of PTSD commonly develop in hours or days after the traumatic experience. It sometimes reaches weeks, months or even years after the traumatic event.
Signs and Symptoms of PTSD
The symptoms of this disorder can suddenly happen suddenly, gradually, or may even come and go over time. Sometimes they can be triggered by something which reminds of you of the traumatic event such as the noise, image or certain words.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment
Post traumatic stress disorder treatment helps the individual by giving a relief to the symptoms he/she experiences. Instead of avoiding the trauma and memories of it, in the post traumatic stress disorder treatment you are encouraged to recall and process the emotions that you felt during the traumatic event. In addition to providing outlet for emotions, the post traumatic stress disorder treatment will also help re-establish your sense of control and reduce your strong hold to the traumatic memory on your life.
Types of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment
This post traumatic stress disorder treatment involves careful and gradual exposure of the individual to the thoughts, feelings and situations that reminds them of the trauma. This therapy also involves determining upsetting thoughts about the traumatic event, thoughts that are distorted and irrational.
PTSD may also affect those people close to you. Family therapy can be helpful. It can help family and friends know what you are going through. It can also help everyone on the family communicate well and fix relationship problems.
EMDR includes elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy with the eye movement or other forms of rhythmic, left-right stimulation like hand taps or sounds. The eye movement and other bilateral types of stimulation are considered to function by “unfreezing” the brain’s information storage which is disrupted in times of too much stress. Once EMDR liberates these fragments of the trauma, they can be incorporated into a cohesive memory and processed.
Medication is prescribed as a post traumatic stress disorder treatment to reduce the secondary symptoms of depression and anxiety. Antidepressants like Zoloft and Prozac are the most common medications used. These antidepressants may help you feel less depressed or worried but they don’t ease the PTSD causes.