PTSD - just for soldiers?

I have read a few posts on here and a few articles elsewhere about PTSD since being diagnosed myself in 2016. I, like a lot of people had heard of it, but always in reference to people who had been in bloody battles across the continents of the world. I'm no soldier or veteran, I've never seen war or bloody battles close up. So how come I was diagnosed with "Shell-shock" (the old fashioned term for PTSD)?

Simple really - it's not just for war veterans to suffer long term effects that bash the brain and the psyche to the far beyond. Though try typing into Google PTSD and look at images. The vast majority show men in fatigues of some sort - the world hasn't yet open its mind to the whole story.

There are three types of PTSD:
Acute: when the above symptoms last between one and 3 months after the trauma.
Chronic: when the symptoms last for at least 3 months following the trauma.
Delayed: when symptoms do not show up for at least 6 months after the trauma.
(www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/Content/.../post-traumatic_stress_disorder.aspx)

Note, the disorder is characterised by symptoms NOT by cause. This is because it isn't just for members of the military to claim sufferance to. They simply get more press about it because of the type of work they do in trying to keep peace across the world in what sometimes seems an against-the-odds fight with humanity.

The brutal fact is that ANYONE may suffer from the symptoms of PTSD if their brain has not been able to process personal events in the appropriate manner. This doesn't mean the everyone who has a bad time will have PTSD. It also doesn't mean that the rich, gifted, socially capable or happy-smiley folk are immune. Like any illness PTSD does not care who you are, only what you have been through.

Some people for example can go to war, be a paramedic, be abused as a child or go through any number of issues and they may suffer from a period of depression or self doubt or self harm or use drugs for a high. For some this is enough and with a little help and guidance (or sometimes just plain self belief) they get through it. This is not PTSD. It is a problem and it needs dealing with and that's the BIG difference. The majority of brains are wired to deal with such a thing. They process, sometimes quickly, sometimes it takes a few years, but they process. The brain's owner comes back to right, they still function "within normal parameters".

PTSD sufferers have none of this. Sometimes there's not even depression or substance misuse and suchlike. More often than not, for a long time someone with PTSD will be openly funny, helpful, resourceful, a 'go to' person for others. They sort out problems for everyone else but cannot sort out their own. It's a coping mechanism. They are often friendly but rarely have friends. Someone with untreated PTSD won't trust another soul, believing that they must cope alone.

There's a saying many of those with PTSD will recognised... "While I'm dealing with your problem I don't have to think of my own". Avoidance. Shutting away of any kind of emotion that may release the Beast of Cause (there's a good book title).

Now, I could go on and on but I'm going to add some facts and leave you to digest this.

Synonyms:
battle fatigue.
combat neurosis.
combat fatigue.
shell shock.
anxiety disorder.
survivor guilt.
post traumatic stress disorder.
and the version CPTSD (complex post traumatic stress disorder - this is for another time)

Signs and symptoms
( Before you read on please do not think that because you can tick a few boxes you suffer PTSD - ask a professional to help you solve the question and they will guide you - you may or you may have some other underlying issue and the wrong treatment would do more harm than good)

Fearful thoughts,
Flashbacks
Bad dreams
Avoidance (difficulty remembering the traumatic event and avoiding reminders of the experience)
Hyperarousal (feeling tense, being startled easily and having trouble sleeping)
Depression,
Worry,
Intense misdirected guilt
Feeling emotionally numb
Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities.)
higher than usual rates of :
Neurological, respiratory, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular symptoms
Tension
Higher than normal number of days with unexplained (as in not physically caused)headache or other physical ailment
Nausea
Agitation
Jittery feeling
Problems having or enjoying sex
Violent tendancies
Substance abuse
OCD
Hypervigilance (where the suffer is acutely aware of people and surroundings, causing tension - awaiting the fight or flight signal)
Dismissivness,
Shyness
Self chastising (I don't know what I'm so miserable for)
Body dysmorphia...
and more

The reason for my post is not to drown you in the sorrows and anguish, or indeed get you to spend hours re-evaluating yourself (although if the cap fits please wear it, then get help). No, this is just to give some knowledge to all of those people who - like I used to - believe that only people with horrific war stories to tell can suffer from PTSD.

Consider:-
Nurses, Doctors, paramedics, firemen, rescue teams (animal and human), teachers, health workers in general, soldiers, sailors, policemen and women, victims of bullying, hostages, witnesses to serious crime, criminals, children of poverty, abused adults and children, those involved in accidents....the list is endless because there's no tag, no box to fit in. If you are human you could face something in life that triggers the symptoms of PTSD, Acute, Chronic or Delayed.

Also consider:-
People you know - don't be blind to the fact that whilst you know your colleague, friend, cousin etc. well, you may not really know them. In truth they may not even know themselves and, as I did, simply go through life believing it was a way of life and everyone suffers something so what the heck.

Everyone has a story, not everyone can cope with theirs.

#mentalhealthawareness
#postraumaticstressdisorder
#peopleneedhelp
#ptsd