*Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious condition. If you are someone you love may have PTSD, you need to seek a qualified medical professional.
According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, about 6% of the US population (12,000,000 people) suffer from PTSD. Often times it goes undiagnosed as people don’t realize they suffer from a serious condition. This article is intended to grow awareness on how to detect whether you or someone you know suffers from PTSD.
What Is Trauma?
PTSD is associated with events that are traumatic—extremely stressful and out-of-the-ordinary. These types of events can include: war, torture, violent crime, large natural disasters, or man-made disasters like car accidents or plane crashes. Although more normal life events such as death, divorce, or financial challenges can add stress, they do not typically bring on PTSD. However, these losses can certainly cause grief and depression. Like PTSD, these issues can be serious as well.
But what qualifies as “traumatic”? Because we all respond to stress differently, the reality of trauma can vary from individual to individual. One person may experience an event as traumatic; in another person, it might trigger a less complex form of stress.
Most people who experience trauma will not develop PTSD—yet some do. Each individual processes stress through the filters of their own unique personality and experience, so reactions to stress can vary widely from person to person. For example, being in close proximity to the World Trade Center on 9/11 was undoubtedly traumatic. But might that stress potentially be the same for a person who saw those events happening live on TV? Or for an individual who repeatedly watched replays of the disaster? Or for someone who lost a loved one that day?
Our intent is not to judge people who suffer trauma, it is to detect when it becomes a serious health and wellness problem and encourage them to seek help.
PTSD Symptoms
Post-traumatic stress disorder can trigger very real, even debilitating symptoms in an affected individual. It may cause that person to:
- Re-experience trauma in flashbacks or recurrent dreams
- Avoid reminders of the event, such as a particular location, or TV news coverage or conversation about it
- Feel emotionally numb, with difficulty connecting to others or recalling details of the trauma
- Exhibit hyper-vigilance—for example, repeatedly check the house for intruders, or sleep with a weapon
- Experience sleep, memory, and concentration problems
- Show uncharacteristic irritability or be quick to anger
- Self-medicate with drugs or alcohol
- Experience an exaggerated startle response—for example, in reaction to loud noises
PTSD becomes a concern when multiple symptoms last for longer than a month. PTSD is very sensitive to triggers—an ambulance siren, a loud noise, even a smell. It’s also common for symptoms of PTSD to recur periodically; battle veterans who’ve been symptomless for decades may suddenly experience new onset.
A person suffering from PTSD may not even realize that he or she is in trouble. Instead, warning signs are often reported by someone close to the person. It’s also important to note that anxiety, depression, and PTSD are very similar and can be interconnected; so, a clear clinical diagnosis by a trained medical professional is therefore imperative.
Watch for the signs listed above in someone you may suspect has PTSD. Help is typically a phone call away. If you or someone you love is rebuilding their life from a traumatic event, positive changes help. These changes could include a fitness plan, change in diet, supplements, a new hobby, or just finding people to talk to. If you think CBD or other natural, safe supplements may help, please stop in to a CBD and Wellness Market and speak with one of our highly trained Wellness Consultants.
Be Well!
PS – Some of my favorite links ….
Our Sleep Collection: Some incredible “help you sleep products”.
Articles and Updates: Read all these great articles.
Our Veterans Program: Thank you for all you have done and do today.