What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ?
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) is a condition experienced by some individuals who have been exposed to an extremely stressful life event. The stressful life events which may lead to a person developing PTSD include:-
* situations where a person’s life is threatened
* accidents or situations where a person experiences a severe injury
* situations where a person sees or hears about the lives of other people being threatened or lost e.g. workmates, relatives or people in their community.
The more severe the trauma or life event is, and the more personally involved a person is in the trauma, the more likely it is that they will develop a PTSD. Some examples of traumas likely to cause a PTSD are rape, torture, combat duties, armed holdups, physical assaults and natural disasters, like bushfires or floods.
How does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affect the person’s feelings ?
The person who develops PTSD begins to experience a lot of distressing thoughts or images. They may at times feel as if the trauma is reoccuring or have distressing dreams about it. When exposed to feelings or situations which remind them of the traumatic event they experience extreme distress. Children often become involved in repetitive play during which they re-enact the traumatic event. Children often have frightening dreams which do not necessarily appear to be connected to the event.
Frequently people who experience PTSD try to avoid thoughts, feelings, activities and places that remind them of the trauma. They feel more distant and less able to show warm emotions. They may experience difficulty in sleeping and concentrating, and become jumpy, constantly watching out for danger. Sometimes they find themselves becoming more irritable and have outbursts of anger.
What effect does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have on a person’s life ?
PTSD reduces a person’s ability to experience pleasure; cope with work, family life and social life. They tend to become more withdrawn and may start to abuse alcohol or drugs.
How to help a person with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Frequently it is not only the person who has PTSD who needs help. This disorder usually has a dramatic effect on families; consequently family members will need some kind of support as well.
*Source: http://www.dircsa.org.au/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=&TN=directory&SN=AUTO8503&SE=479&RN=4&MR=0&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=Online_SearchResults&EF=&DF=Online_SearchDetails&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=3&ID=&MF=WPMSGDIR.INI&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=551&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&BG=&FG=&QS=&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1
Dissociative Identity Society Of SA Inc (DISSA)
Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service
