Post-traumatic stress disorder

Examples of traumatic events which could cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, include:

• Getting diagnosed with a serious illness
• Having (or seeing) a serious road accident
• The unexpected injury or violent death of someone close
• Being taken hostage or prisoner-of-war
• Continuing physical or sexual abuse
• Rape
• Mistreatment in prisons or torture

The hippocampus is the part of the brain that processes memories. In PTSD, high levels of stress hormones, like adrenaline, may stop it from processing the memories of the event, producing continuing flashbacks and nightmares.

Symptoms of PTSD usually start within six months, and sometimes only a few weeks after the trauma.

After the traumatic event you can feel grief-stricken, depressed, anxious, guilty and angry. In PTSD you may also:

• Have flashbacks and nightmares, reliving the event in your mind, again and again.
• Be ‘on guard’ – you stay alert all the time, can’t relax, feel anxious and can’t sleep.
• Feel physical symptoms – aches and pains, diarrhoea, irregular heartbeats, headaches, feelings of panic and fear, depression.
• Start drinking too much alcohol or using drugs (including painkillers).

Treatment

Psychotherapy helps by remembering the event, going over and making sense of it, your mind can do its normal job of storing the memories away and moving on to other things.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helps to think differently about your memories, so that they become less distressing and more manageable. It involves relaxation to help you tolerate the discomfort of recalling the traumatic events.

Group therapy - talking with a group of people who have been through the same or similar traumatic events can help you feel less alone and isolated.

Medication - Anti-depressants