Dealing With Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

Stress is a psychological and physiological response to certain events that take place in the course of our life and which upset our personal balance in some way. A certain amount of stress is considered as being healthy and normal, but there is a certain point at which it becomes out of control and potentially dangerous.

Types Of Stress

There are a number of different types of stress that one can suffer from, one in particular being post traumatic stress syndrome. Post traumatic stress syndrome is almost always caused by some sort of psychologically traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or serious injury to oneself or others. This can include anything from violent personal assault, car or plane accidents, or military combat, for instance.

Signs And Symptoms

There are certain signs and symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome that you will most likely notice, and it is critical to pay attention to these signs and symptoms, as they are basically warning signs and are telling you that you should seek professional help before your condition becomes too serious or dangerous.

There are basically three categories of symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome. The first involves re-experiencing the event, and this is actually the main characteristic of the condition. Most commonly in this case you will have powerful and recurrent memories of the event or nightmares in which you see it happen over and over again.

Also, in rare cases, a person may actually enter dissociative states, which may last anywhere from a few minutes to several days or even more. People who suffer from this disorder often tend to develop a dependence on drugs or alcohol, and may become depressed as well.

Treatment

There are quite a few different methods of treatment that are typically used for post traumatic stress syndrome, and in particular cognitive behavioral therapy and group therapy tend to be quite effective here. Both are often performed by therapists who are experienced in a particular type of trauma, such as rape counselors, and they will also often combine this with exposure therapy, in which the patient relives the experience under controlled conditions in order to work through the trauma and relieve themselves of the stress.

Post traumatic stress syndrome can quickly become unmanageable and out of control, and so it is important for persons suffering from the disorder to seek medical help and treatment as soon as they possibly can.