Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its symptoms & treatment

The following is a guest article by Eric Sjoberg, HHP, SEP.  Check out the guest blogging guidelines if you’re interested in doing a guest post at MT Herald.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The term “PTSD” is appearing much more in our conversations and in the media, but just what does it mean?

Most of us agree that those coming home from war, or suffering from violence might suffer some lasting effects.  But the term is now being used to describe problems that people suffer from that are much less dramatic.

We have heard of veterans having flashbacks that bring them into the past, believing that events that happened in the past are happening in the present. High anxiety and “fight or flight” responses leave them basically hallucinating, and not relating to the present reality they are facing.

What we are finding is that these types of symptoms are just the tip of the iceberg.

The essence of PTSD is found in the biology of our bodies. We, like all animals, have evolved to survive all sorts of threats to our existence. Evolutionarily, our thinking and feeling abilities have been part of us for a much shorter time than our basic nervous system.

The biology of our nervous system works very quickly, and effectively – more so than our thoughts. For instance, we catch ourselves from falling more quickly than we can tell ourselves the thought: “step forward quickly with the left foot.”  A complex series of commands are executed to prevent the fall, far beyond any series of thoughts that we could manifest even if we were to have the time, let alone do so in a fraction of a second.

When we are threatened, there are two main tracks that we take: fight, or flight. Our nervous systems go into high gear, attempting as best as it can to prevent injury by running away or overpowering the threat.

When this fails, the nervous system goes into another state, commonly known as freeze. The body shuts down its pain reception, and sometimes its consciousness, in order to prevent pain, but more importantly to maintain the possibility of future escape or fight.

Post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, occurs when the completion of this sequence fails, and the organism get stuck in attempting to complete it, or frozen in its inability to do so.

Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The nervous system might get stuck in any combination of fight, flight, or freeze. Depression, or emotional or physical manifestations of numbness or paralysis might show where the nervous system is stuck in “freeze.” Chronic aggression or hostility, or risk taking might be examples of being stuck in “flight.”  Repeatedly running away from situations, or skittishness and avoidance might exemplify “flight.”

Some common characteristics are:

Physical

• Eating disturbances (more or less than usual)
• Sleep disturbances (more or less than usual)
• Sexual dysfunction
• Low energy
• Chronic, unexplained pain

Emotional

• Depression, spontaneous crying, despair and hopelessness
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Fearfulness
• Compulsive and obsessive behaviors
• Feeling out of control
• Irritability, angry and resentment
• Emotional numbness
• Withdrawal from normal routine and relationships

Cognitive

• Memory lapses, especially about the trauma
• Difficulty making decisions
• Decreased ability to concentrate
• Feeling distracted
• ADHD symptoms

The following additional symptoms of emotional trauma are commonly associated with a severe precipitating event, such as a natural disaster, exposure to war, rape, assault, violent crime, major car or airplane crashes, or child abuse. Extreme symptoms can also occur as a delayed reaction to the traumatic event.

Re-experiencing the Trauma

• Intrusive thoughts
• Flashbacks or nightmares
• Sudden floods of emotions or images related to the traumatic event

Emotional Numbing and Avoidance

• Amnesia
• Avoidance of situations that resemble the initial event
• Detachment
• Depression
• Guilt feelings
• Grief reactions
• An altered sense of time Increased Arousal
• Hyper-vigilance, jumpiness, an extreme sense of being “on guard”
• Overreactions, including sudden unprovoked anger
• General anxiety
• Insomnia
• Obsessions with death

All of these show some form or other of chronic stress.

Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder can be treated through both medication and therapy.

Somatic Experiencing is a whole spectrum of philosophy and techniques that work with supporting the body’s natural ability to discharge and heal trauma by gently working with the nervous system and biology of the body as it is in the moment.

Medication can be helpful at times especially in severe or chronic PTSD in mitigating the effects of trauma by reducing anxiety, and allowing the person to have a more normal life, and to then be more able to heal more deeply with therapies.

Cognitive therapy can help to re-pattern habits of thought and action that may have been imprinted by reactions to the trauma that are no longer useful.

Exposure therapy helps by gently (hopefully!) working with exposure to triggering situations in increasingly large doses to deactivate the triggers.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy combines some guided eye movements with exposure therapy. It can be helpful in reducing or eliminating traumatic memories.

Eric Sjoberg, is a San Diego Therapist and support clients by principles of Somatic Therapy. Contact him if you are looking for therapist in San Diego.