Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Rape, abuse of any kind, war experiences, or other horrific situations are most factors that can trigger a traumatizing event. PSTD is a mental disorder that can develop after a traumatizing event such as abuse. PTSD receives the most attention as a trauma-related disorder. It is the most commonly diagnosed trauma-related disorder, and its symptoms can be quite debilitating over time. Up to 40-50% of abused children/adolescents develop symptoms of PTSD. Even though half of victims remain mentally healthy after sexual abuse, they should also receive all the help they need, but do not automatically expose themselves to triggers that could cause them to relive the event.
Severity of the trauma
Regardless of the severity of the situation, trauma disorder can reach different levels of severity.
The acute stress response is often a mixed one, alternating with or following the stress, with depression, anger, anxiety, despair, hyperactivity, and withdrawal. If it is possible to remove oneself from the stressful situation, the symptoms usually subside within hours or a few days.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) usually develops within 6 months of an event experienced as significantly traumatic. This involves repeated, inescapable reliving of the experience in memory, daydreaming, dreaming and often scenic re-experiencing of various sensory qualities and emotions (flashbacks, dissociative experiences).
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
Initial signs of the trauma may include exhaustion, confusion, sadness, anxiety, agitation, numbing, dissociation, confusion, physical arousal, blunted affect, and psychological sensitivity and agitation.
Sufferers are plagued by repetitive dreams and images. They avoid situations or places associated with the trauma. The person often suffers from irritability and outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, and increased volatility.
Delayed onset of the trauma may include persistent fatigue, sleep disturbances, nightmares, fear of recurrence, fear of flashbacks, depression, and avoidance of feelings, sensations, or activities even remotely related to the trauma.
How to Help Someone going through Trauma
- Discover their triggers and avoid them from occurring again. Know that triggers can precede traumatic stress reactions, including delayed reactions to trauma.
- Create a safe environment.
- Explore their support systems and strengthen them as needed. Let close family members know that this person is going through a traumatic situation.
- Develop coping strategies to manage and cope with symptoms.
- Give them time to talk about their experience.
- Listen to them and acknowledge their experiences.
- Accept their feelings. For example, if they are crying, hold their hands and allow them to express their feelings in that moment the way they want.
- Don’t blame them or criticize their reactions.
- Consult a therapist.
Finally, trauma can affect a person’s beliefs about the future by causing them to lose hope, limit their expectations about life, fear that life will end abruptly or prematurely, or expect that normal life events will not occur (e.g., access to education, the ability to have an important and committed relationship, good job opportunities).
Determining the type of trigger a person has is critical to treatment and recovery. This method usually targets not only the management of symptoms, but also the person’s coping mechanisms. Only after a thorough proper assessment can treatment and recovery from PSTD disorders truly begin.
