trauma

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

This can occur after a person, or people, have experienced an event that is extremely stressful, for example being attacked, raped, being in a serious accident etc. PTSD is a way of describing a set of thoughts, feelings and/or behaviours that can result from having experienced an extremely traumatic incident.

How do I know if I've got PTSD?

Technically (according to a leading diagnostic manual, called the DSMIV) you have PTSD if you have been in a traumatic event (or seen one) where both:

1a) Someone died or was seriously injured, or could have died or been seriously injured, or something was done to your body against your will.

b) at the time it happened you felt intense fear, helplessness or horror.

AND

2) The following have gone on for more than a month and have caused you loads of distress or have severely affected your life (e.g. at your job, or in your relationships).

a) You keep experiencing the incident in any of the ways described below:

i) Having constant memories of the incident and your thoughts/feelings at the time.
ii) Having bad dreams about the incident.
iii) Feeling as though the incident is happening now (flashbacks).
iv) Feeling very upset/nervous at things that remind you of the incident.
v) Acting as if the incident is still happening.

b) You try to avoid things that remind you of the incident in 3 or more of the ways described below:

i) You avoid thinking, feelings, or talking about the incident.
ii) You avoid things (people, places etc) that remind you of what's happened.
iii) You are unable to remember everything that happened.
iv) You're not interested in doing anything anymore.
v) You feel different and separate from other people, even your family.
vi) You seem unable to feel love anymore.
vii) You don't think your life is going to run normally ever again.

c) You have developed 2 or more of the following since the incident:

i) You find it difficult to fall or stay asleep since the incident.
ii) You seem more irritable than before.
iii) You can't concentrate as well as you used to.
iv) You feel on edge a lot of the time, looking out for dangers.
v) You're stunned easily.

Technically it's called Acute PTSD if you've experienced this for less than 3 months.

It's called Chronic PTSD if you've experienced this for more than 3 months.

Sometimes people only start experiencing PTSD 6 months or more after the incident. This is called Delayed Onset PTSD.

How many people have PTSD?

Immediately following an incident most people suffer what is known as a stress reaction. This can include things such as shock, disbelief feelings of numbness, and/or some of the symptoms we have described above.

This is entirely normal! These symptoms usually die down over time in most people, without the need for them to seek help, or by just having the support of family and friends.

It has been estimated that between 1 in 10 and 3 in 10 people develop longstanding problems following a serious traumatic incident. Remember, that means that most people are able to cope!

Some theories about what's going on in PTSD.

There are quite a number of theories about what is going on. We haven't got the space to go into them all here, and we don't want to end up confusing you too much, so we'll only briefly mention some of the main ones.

A couple of theories basically say that you're mind is overloaded by what's happened and the experience of the incident has been so unusual that you just can't incorporate it into the way you think or feel about things.

Another says that your mind is altered in such a way that you experience fear easier and a lot more than other people.

Another says that the incident alters how you see yourself and the world around you. Most people see the way the world works as logical or at least somewhat understandable, but the PTSD person loses this sense of seeing the world as an understandable place.

How does the doctor/expert find out if you've got PTSD?

Basically they will ask you questions to see if you fit in with the criteria we've already described. They might also ask you to fill out some questionnaires which will help them. However, the way they will do it varies a lot from individual to individual. Often they will be just as concerned in ensuring that they don't upset you too much, as frequently this may be the first time someone has admitted they have a serious problem.

What treatments are available?

Often the first treatment people get from their doctor is some medicine. This is usually designed to help with some of the symptoms of PTSD. For example, you may be prescribed something to help calm you down, or to help you sleep. This is sometimes enough for some people but others need some extra psychological therapies to help them improve.

One of the most popular psychological therapies being used at the moment for PTSD is Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. This treatment attempts to let the PTSD sufferer 'face up to the incident' in order to get back some element of control over how the person thinks and feels.

There are other therapies that are used, for example, Eye movement desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), psychodynamic therapy, general counselling, group therapy, Relaxation techniques, anxiety management techniques etc. Basically, different forms of therapy are useful to different people. People often try therapies that don't really suit them until they find one that works, so don't despair if the first one that you try doesn't work!

Some people think that it is important for people who have been involved in a traumatic incident to talk about it within 3 days of it happening. This is sometimes called Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and can be used with people that are often around traumatic events, e.g. the police, paramedics, fire officers etc. At the moment it is not certain how helpful this is, and seems to depend on a lot of specific factors that we have not got the space to go into here.

How do I go about getting help?

If you think that you or someone you know may be suffering from PTSD, we would recommend that you visit your local doctor, as he or she will be able to get you access to the expert help that you need. However, we know that sometimes people are reluctant to visit their doctor. In these cases, there are a number of Victim support organisations that will be able to offer you some helpful advice and information. These can usually be found easily by checking in your local phone book, or local paper. Alternatively you can try the internet. We hope to have a list of useful organisations available for you soon.

Also please note that following a traumatic incident, people may not suffer PTSD but may develop other forms of disorder such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks etc. Just because they do not fit the criteria for PTSD does not mean they may not require help. It sounds a bit stupid, but as a general rule, if you feel as though you have a problem then it's likely that there is a problem. It's usually good to find out a bit more about what's worrying you, if only to put your mind at rest.

We are thinking of creating a SimplePsych factsheet on PTSD which goes into more detail while still using easy to understand English. If you would be interested at this service being offered to you please let us know by emailing us Click Here

Thank you.

* RECOMMENDED BOOKS *

If you are interested in going into even more depth, the following book(s), sold by Amazon.co.uk, are recommended by us. Each is followed by a rating for ease of reading (1-3).

1=Simple and Easy to comprehend.
2=More Complex but still a good read.
3=Very Complex, only for professionals/those studying to degree level.

Coping with Trauma: A Guide to Self-Understanding (Allen & Allen)

RATING SCORE = 2 Quite a good book for the average person, although it does contain some jargon that is not all that easy to understand.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies for Trauma (Follette, Ruzek, & Abueg)

RATING SCORE = 3 A Good collection of chapters for students and professionals, not for everyone though.

The Scared Child: Helping Kids Overcome Traumatic Events (Brooks & Siegel)

RATING SCORE = 1 A book that offers parents a debriefing technique based on critical incident debriefing. It's designed to work for children between the ages of 2 and 18, and covers a wide variety of types of trauma, from abuse to divorce to illness and death.

Burnout In Families: The Systemic Costs Of Caring (Figley (Ed.))

RATING SCORE = 3 Promotes the idea of 'secondary traumatization' in families of trauma victims.

To return to the main pageClick Here

OR Click Back on your Browser to return to the Previous Page.