Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

            Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is associated with excessive anxiety that comes after an individual has been exposed to traumatic situations. PTSD causes individuals to become hyper-reactive to stressing conditions and even causes people to prefer spending time alone. The people living with PTSD always dislike interacting with people close to them for fear of being reminded of the events of the past. The most immediate impacts of PTSD include separation from one’s family or engaging in drugs to try and fight stress. PTSD may disappear on itself given some time while for others, medical intervention is the only savior depending on the extent of damage caused by the traumatic experience. The management of PTSD involves knowing the root cause, the symptoms and the methods of diagnosis to give the victims the right medical attention.

The causes of PTSD revolve around the experience of traumatic events. The current world is full of traumatic events that happen daily exposing millions of people. Some of the traumatic experiences include direct combats during wars by military officers, terrorist attacks, and sexual assault either as a child or an adult, and even natural calamities. The impacts of being exposed to traumatic experiences vary widely between individuals. Some people may not show any signs of PTSD after the experience; others are affected for the first few days, or weeks while others get severe and long term PTSD effects (Rock et al. 2018). Although the internal cause of PTSD is not known, it is believed that the human body has a way of responding to trauma, and PTSD occurs when the levels that the body can manage are exceeded.

The response to trauma varies between individuals and hence the reason why some people will go through similar traumatic experiences but will respond differently. Lack of preparedness could also be said to be another cause of PTSD. Individuals who have been trained on the best methods of handling traumatic experiences will not be adversely affected when the event occurs. Also, the attention given to individuals after exposure to traumatic experiences goes a long way in determining whether an individual will develop PTSD or not. The symptoms observable from an individual are crucial in determining whether an individual has developed PTSD.

The Symptoms of PTSD are easily noticeable after the experience has happened. Individuals with PTSD are prone to getting re-experienced aspects related to the traumatic event. For example, when individuals attend or witness the anniversaries to traumatic events, meet people who appear similar to people met during the traumatic experience, or any memory that reminds them of the happenings during the event, the unusual reaction might be observed.  After being exposed to traumatic events, individuals tend to be disturbed by memories and flashbacks, feelings of extreme guilt and sadness, excessive anger outbursts, and even sleep disturbances due to nightmares (Pruiksma et al. 2016). The symptoms are understandable if they occur within the first month after the experience. Prolonged symptoms, however, necessitate the diagnosis of PTSD. Early diagnosis of PTSD is crucial for proper management to avoid extreme impacts. Individuals with PTSD can be identified with the way they react cautiously to events that might remind them of the ordeals of the traumatic experiences. Such symptoms are critical in knowing whether an individual is affected by PTSD. The realization of PTSD should be followed by an immediate medical response to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.

The treatment of PTSD is inclusive, and the individual has to cooperate for results to be evident. The treatment process has to involve a detailed treatment plan where the individual is involved in coming up with a plan that meets their needs. The fact that the experiences associated with leading to the condition mean that there is no specific treatment formula for PTSD. The treatment procedure is unique to every victim depending on the symptoms shown, and thus the experts tasked with handling such cases should be trained on flexibility to be able to handle the different kinds of victims. Also, the right treatment for an individual may not be known at the onset and in most cases, different treatment procedures are tried before settling for the most effective treatment. Proper treatment is capable of making an individual to recover their previous balanced and healthy life. The treatment procedure might involve providing safety to the victims if the traumatic experiencing is still ongoing. The treatment should involve digging deep to ensure that the individuals do not hide some of their feelings such as feeling suicidal. A proper treatment procedure will involve an experienced treatment officer. The primary objective of a PTSD treatment should be to help the individuals to cope with their condition and lead a responsible life while recovering from the condition.

In sum, PTSD is not discriminative but the level of response that an individual’s body can manage plays a significant role on the extent of PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD vary between individuals and could occur immediately after the experience or could take some time before being noticed. The treatment procedures for PTSD patients are always varied depending on the symptoms shown.