NYC Anxiety Control - Learn How To Control Your Anxiety - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

PTSD Treatment

PTSD results from life events that are traumatic. Unlike typical
stressors we all experience in daily life, traumas are events that are
exceptionally stressful or scary, involving threat of serious injury or
death to you or a loved one. This is typically followed by feelings of
intense fear, horror and/or helplessness, if not total numbness and
disbelief. Examples of traumas include rape, natural disasters, car
crashes, military combat and other instances where ones life is on
the line. Symptoms of PTSD fall into three categories:

Re-experiencing:

		Disturbing memories, dreams and/or flashbacks
		Extreme emotional distress or physical reactivity (eg, heart
		beat and breathing change) when reminded of the event

Avoidance:

		Avoiding thoughts, feelings & conversations about the event
		Avoiding people, places & situations reminding you of the
		event
		Problems recalling important parts of the event
		Loss of interest in activities, feeling emotionally numb,
		feeling disconnected from others
		A sense that life will be cut short

Hyperarousal:

		Sleep difficulties
		Irritability/anger
		Problems concentrating
		Feeling constantly on guard and easily startled.

Most people do not have all symptoms of the disorder and a certain combination is necessary for a diagnosis to be made. This can
only be done by a mental health professional. PTSD is diagnosed if
symptoms endure for 1 month following a trauma. Before then the
condition is known as an Acute Stress Disorder.

Psychotherapy treatment for PTSD has shown much success. Most
research has focused on exposure- based treatments, specifically,
telling the story of what happened in enough detail and with
enough frequency to elicit the emotions of the event. The long-term
goal of course is to feel less intensity of emotion when reminded of
the traumas of your past. The treatment involves minimizing
avoidance of thoughts, feelings, places, people, etc, working on
negative beliefs that have stemmed from the event (e.g., "The world
is an unsafe place", "It is my fault for putting myself in that
situation"), and gradually "processing" the bad memories so that
they are easier to manage. The treatment length varies for each
person, depending in part on the number of previous traumas, the
type of trauma, and pre-trauma personality traits. My treatment
approach is consistent with the cognitive-behavioral strategy
outlined above. I have seen a great deal of success using this
approach.