What is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder?
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) is a severe reaction to a traumatic event. A traumatic event might
include a natural disaster or be caused by a person, such as a work place
accident, an armed hold-up, a physical, emotional or sexual assault, car crash,
combat or torture. Experiencing or being witness to a traumatic event can cause
significant emotional and physical distress.
It’s normal to experience stress
after a traumatic event, but these symptoms usually disappear within a few
weeks.
If the symptoms of trauma persist
more than a month, a person may have developed PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD are
severe and last for a long time – often years – and can disrupt a person’s
ability to function at work and study, in relationships and in their general
quality of life, as well as affecting their health.
What
are the symptoms of PTSD?
Three types of symptoms can affect
people with PTSD. The symptoms can vary in type and intensity. In addition, it
is common for a person with PTSD to be experiencing other mental health
conditions, including other anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse.
Symptom Type
|
Description
|
Intrusive
|
Intrusive memories
and images from the traumatic event, experienced through:
Daytime memories
Dreams/nightmares
Flashback experiences
|
Avoidance
|
Avoidance of
reminders of the trauma, such as:
Activities
Places
People
Feelings
Emotional numbing
including:
Restricted emotions
Feeling detached from others, even
close family/friends
Loss of interest in usual
activities
Difficulty seeing a long term
future
|
Heightened arousal
|
Increased arousal
and wakefulness resulting in:
Difficulty sleeping
Irritability or outbursts of anger
Difficulty concentrating
Hypervigilance (looking out for
signs of danger)
Exaggerated startle response
|
Who gets PTSD?
Around 6.4% of Australian adults
experience PTSD, and it’s almost twice as prevalent in women (8.3%) as in men
(4.6%). Genetic factors and life experience, including parenting styles, role
modelling and previous exposure to trauma, can contribute to the likelihood of
developing PTSD.
The nature of the trauma also
influences the likelihood of a person developing PTSD. Some traumatic events
are both severe and extreme, and so are more likely to result in personal
feelings of intense fear, helplessness or horror with both physical and
emotional symptoms.
Other factors influencing the
development of PTSD include how close the person was to the event and whether
or not the trauma was inflicted by another person.
Treatment
for PTSD
There are effective treatments
available for PTSD. For most, psychological treatments are effective. Education
and stress inoculation training can be useful. Medications are also available
but should only be taken under guidance from a medical practitioner.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is an effective
structured psychological treatment for PTSD.
CBT for PTSD helps you to learn how
to change any unhelpful thoughts and beliefs maintaining PTSD. It can also
teach you useful distraction and relaxation techniques, and ways to reduce
stress or physical symptoms.
One option to manage and overcome
PTSD is exposure therapy, where a person is gradually exposed to cues that
trigger distress and are reminders of the trauma. This controlled exposure may
be imagined, based in virtual reality or presented in real-life.
Some people develop PTSD following
exposure to long-lasting and/or repeated traumatic events (such as sexual
assault). For these people, therapy emphasising emotional regulation can be
more effective. This approach, with its more gradual approach to exposure
therapy, helps people to develop a deeper therapeutic alliance.
Where
can I receive treatment for PTSD?
There are a number of ways you can
access psychological treatment for PTSD and you can choose a way that works
best for you. This can be in-person with a mental health professional, or
online with the support of a program.
By registering, you can access Mental
Health Online’s free and comprehensive PTSD assessment and treatment. You may
like to do this by yourself in our self-guided option, but you can also opt for
our free therapist-assisted program via email, chat, or video.
Explore
other treatment options
For further information about
treatment options and assistance:
Visit
your GP
Explore
other online therapies at Head to Health
Find a Psychologist through the Australian Psychological Society’s referral service
Contact
your local community health centre