Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a serious disorder that includes many reactions to a trauma or life-threatening event such as upsetting memories, nightmares, jumpiness, and difficulty sleeping. Traumas include but are not limited to sexual assault, physical assault, child abuse, natural and manmade disasters, automobile accidents, and exposure to combat. Individuals with PTSD may relive the event via intrusive memories, flashbacks and nightmares; avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma; and experience anxious and/or angry feelings they didn’t have before that are so intense that their lives are disrupted. Unfortunately, PTSD typically negatively affects many aspects of the individual's life making it difficult to establish and maintain relationships causing detachment and estrangement, difficulty feeling emotions or regulating emotions, or an inability be around groups or loud noises which prevents engaging in previously enjoyed activities. Avoidance is a primary symptom with individuals avoiding people, places, or objects that might remind them of the traumatic event. PTSD symptoms often reduce self-esteem and increase feelings of anxiety and depression. Individuals with PTSD often abuse alcohol or drugs in a conscious or subconscious attempt to relieve or reduce intense negative PTSD symptoms. Fortunately, scientific research has provided effective treatments that can be provided in a relatively short amount of time.