Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following an experience or witnessing of a life threatening events. Most common cases are usually soldiers with military combat, people of natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or physical or sexual assault. Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms can come and go with flashbacks or reliving the traumatic event for minutes or even days at a time.

PTSD symptoms are generally grouped into three types, intrusive memories, avoidance and numbing, and increased anxiety or emotional arousal. People who are diagnosed with this tend to fall into one of these categories with avoidance and emotional numbing they usually try to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event, feel hopeless about the future, memory problems start occurring and avoiding activities they once enjoyed. In the case with anxiety and increased emotional arousal they tend to show irritability or anger, overwhelming guilt or shame, trouble sleeping and get easily startled or frightened. With intrusive memories they often relive the experience through nightmares, flashbacks and upsetting dreams about the traumatic event

. People who suffer from this usually may develop additional disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and others problems of physical and mental health. This disorder impair a person’s ability to function in society or family life, including occupational instability, and martial problems and divorces. They usually feel left out or go around thinking that they do not fit or function properly like use to which could lead to other forms of depression.

 I actually experiences a situation like this with a fellow co-worker who was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder. He had a military background, one day at work I noticed him in the back room talking to himself and banging the floor with a hard wooden stick, so I asked him if he was okay. He said yes, I just came to the back because if I stay in the floor I feel like I am going to kill someone. I told him just to calm down and took that stick away from him I told him he could stay in the back as long as he wanted so that he could clam down, and I asked him what was going on so he could vent his mind. That is when he told me he had been in the military and was suffering from PTSD that he would get mood swings if he was not on his medication and then I asked, are you taking you medication? He said no I decided to get off of it, so I just stayed there talking to him for a while until he calmed down I guess all he really needed was someone to be there so he could talk his mind. So I can clearly understand and see how people with this condition would have trouble functioning in a society because of this disorder it would not allow them to react how they want too. I have the deepest respect to all the people who serve in the military and would want them to get the help that is needed if they feel that this could do them good.  

I found this video it is simple but gets to the point and gives an explanation from a soldiers point of view who is suffering from PTSD and trying to inform others that there is help out there for those who need it because you shouldn’t have to go through this alone.