Resource Post-traumatic Stress-Disorder (PTSD); An Awarness Thread (with Infos)

[CicisDoingUnwell]

☆ ── ꒰ (𝑪 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈...)
[Hey! Feel free to Add anything you like! More Infos and/or Your Story (with a warning maybe). Feel also free to correct. I tried to make this as readable and easy in english as I could.
!!Take notes that I'm not an expert, nor an psychatrist, therapist or anything.!!]

What is PTSD?
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an impairment that occurs after a traumatic event.
It is characterized by intrusive thoughts, nightmares and flashbacks, avoidance of memories of the trauma, negative cognitions and moods, hypervigilance, and sleep disturbance.


Causes?
PTSD is always caused by a severe trauma experienced by an affected person as a victim or eyewitness. This threatening experience results in a (permanent) disruption of self-perception and the worldview, which can trigger psychological disorders.

Typical PTSD triggers:
Experiences of violence, harassment, (sexual) abuse, torture, assault
Accidents in traffic, work, leisure, sports
Natural disasters like fires, floods, earthquakes, explosions
Serious illnesses; cancer, heart attacks, emergency surgery



Symptoms?

1. Reliving the situation: recurring, distressing memories that intrude in flashbacks, traumas, and nightmares
2. Avoidance: apathy, numbness in one's surroundings, avoidance of activities/situations that could trigger trauma; sometimes, access to important aspects of the trauma is lost
3. Excitability: sleep disturbances, irritability, difficulty concentrating, hypervigilance, excessive startle response
4. Long-term impaired trust in people
5. Suffering from feelings of guilt, shame, and self-loathing
6. Coping with everyday life becomes torture
7. Physical illnesses are negatively impacted

Comorbidities?

• Affective disorders (e.g. depression)
• Anxiety disorders (e.g. social phobia)
• Dissociative disorders
• Eating disorders (e.g. bulimia, anorexia)
• Personality disorders (e.g. emotionally unstable personality disorder)
• Addiction disorders

Diagnosis? How To Get It?
PTSD is diagnosed by professionals and when symptoms persist for more than four weeks.
Questionnaires are often used as a tool for structured interviews and further self-assessment.
The first step is to understand the trauma that caused the PTSD and its significance, assess its severity, and rule out other mental illnesses that can also occur under high stress.


Short and Easy:
1. A very scary or dangerous event happened what was threatning
This could be one big event or many smaller ones over time (like war, abuse, or a serious accident).

2. Reliving the event
They feel like it's happening again — through:

• Flashbacks
• Nightmares
• Upsetting memories that suddenly pop up
  These feel very real and may cause strong fear or panic.

3. Avoiding reminders

• The person tries hard to avoid:
• Thinking or talking about the event
• Places, people, or situations that remind them of it

4. Feel of constant danger
They might:

• Be jumpy or easily startled
• Always feel tense, alert, or watchful (called hypervigilance)

Therapy?
Therapy is often conducted on an outpatient basis. Hospitalization is only recommended if, for example, additional depressive symptoms or a personality disorder occur.

Treatment is usually trauma-focused (with possible additional medication).
Guidelines:
Help patients gain control over unwanted memories
Reduce symptoms (such as anxiety, depression, stroke, concentration problems)
Support them to view the trauma as a purpose in life and find meaning in life
Restore psychosocial improvements and work capacity


Concepts:
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
EMDR Therapy
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)
Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy for PTSD (BEPP)
All of these can be further supported with creative approaches such as music therapy, art therapy, yoga, or autogenic training.

Prognosis?
60-80% of people with PTSD who receive evidence-based therapy such as CBT or EMDR experience significant improvements.
If therapy is initiated at the right time and is also appropriate for the patient (more on this under "Therapy"), 50% will recover completely without further symptoms.
However, if symptoms persist for years, it leads to a chronic course in about 20-30% of people. (Especially in cases of severe, repeated trauma.)
PTSD takes an average of 36 months to resolve.
Although some never (or are able to) fully resolve PTSD and it remains a lifelong challenge, there are often significant improvements in coping with symptoms, gaining control over reactions to memories of the trauma, and navigating everyday life with greater acceptance.

☆ ── 𝑩𝒚𝒆; 𝑪! ꒱

 

[ALonelyFreak]

Thanks a lot bookmarking this.
What is worth stressing that the trauma trigger doesn't have to be extreme in a typical sense in order to cause PTSD. For example I sustained some bullying when I was a child. Without getting into the details it wasn't like a super super bad bullying but it ruined my psyche but ofc shrinks wouldn't acknowledge it.

Also it is worth mentioning that getting PTSD diagnosis isn't easy at least in some countries. Especially if that trauma isn't war/spending a few months in hospital with a very bad illness.

 

[CicisDoingUnwell]

Thanks a lot bookmarking this.
What is worth stressing that the trauma trigger doesn't have to be extreme in a typical sense in order to cause PTSD. For example I sustained some bullying when I was a child. Without getting into the details it wasn't like a super super bad bullying but it ruined my psyche but ofc shrinks wouldn't acknowledge it.

Also it is worth mentioning that getting PTSD diagnosis isn't easy at least in some countries. Especially if that trauma isn't war/spending a few months in hospital with a very bad illness.

(…)

Thank you <3

Yes, it doesn't have to be extreme! Still, I do think that the criteria for the diagnosis have to fit in order to get PTSD and/or a diagnosis.

I have to admit, PTSD really isn't an easy diagnosis to get. It often comes with A LOT of struggle and work to put in, into finally reciving a diagnosis and working on it.
So I do admit - Its tough.

You get this!!

(…)