Coping and Managing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• The Nature of PTSD
  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious mental illness many people develop after witnessing traumatic or life-threatening events. PTSD is an extreme reaction to extreme stress. Many incidents such as warfare, rape, and other sexual assaults including physical attacks, torture, child abuse, natural disasters such as earthquake and floods, and automobile or airplane crashes. In some context, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is also referred to as shell-shock or combat fatigue especially in military circles, while in the context of sexual or physical abuse, PTSD is sometimes referred to as rape trauma or battered woman syndrome. It is also generally known that women susceptibility to develop PTSD is significantly higher than that of men.
• Symptoms of PTSD
  Symptoms of PTSD occur shortly after the traumatic event which include emotional pain, which is as a result of reliving the trauma through nightmares and disturbing memories during the day; sufferers of PTSD also feel emotionally numb, unpredictable angry outbursts at loved ones or family members, detached, irritable, and easily scared. Many other symptoms include sleep difficulties, alcohol addiction, trouble concentrating, and depression. Rate of depression is incessantly high in people who experience PTSD. In some circles, PTSD symptoms are also called acute stress disorder.
• Causes of PTSD
  Statistically, not everyone who witness a traumatic event develops post-traumatic stress disorder. Many factors influences PTSD depending on how severe and prolonged the traumatic event. People who experience severe and prolonged trauma are more likely to develop the disorder than people who experience less severe trauma.
  Furthermore, people who directly witness death, injury, or attack are more likely to develop symptoms. Existing biological and psychological susceptibilities in some people make them more likely to develop PTSD and also people life-experiences especially during their childhood affects their psychological vulnerabilities making them increasingly susceptible to the disorder. Folks with histories of anxiety disorders in their families may have predictably inherited genetic disposition to react more severely to stress. If untreated, PTSD can lead to mental and physical disorder.
• Treatment and Managing PTSD symptoms
  It should be known that depression and other important as a result of PTSD is a treatable medical ailment and many people who suffers PTSD have been able to respond to treatment therefore bringing back their lives into balance. The first line of action against PTSD especially at the early stage is seeking a doctor’s help or the opinion of an expert in the medical field. Do not wait until your symptoms becomes severe. Early intervention is highly recommended in treating PTSD.
  The most important and healthiest actions sufferers of PTSD can do to cope and manage PTSD include:
• Alertness to changes in your feelings and mood
• Give yourself time to heal and feel free to seek appropriate assistance
• Consulting the expertise of a healthcare professional is also a reasonable response to a medical issue.
• Peer Support is also an important step to sound health.
• Psychotherapy is also an ideal treatment of PTSD and depression and may produce results alone in many cases.
• Physicians also prescribe antidepressants or anxiety-reducing drugs to treat the mood disturbances

Dealing with fears induced by PTSD
Many adults with PTSD tend to find themselves avoiding situations that are related or similar to the trauma they experienced. Some of the scenario include:
• If the sufferer were in a car accident, he/she might be avoiding driving, being in cars and also avoiding areas with a lot of traffic.
• Staying away from general places, situations or people or objects related to your trauma including parks, crowded places and people of a specific ethnicity, age or even gender.
The most effective way to deal these phobias is by facing them rather than trying to avoid them. Activities such as driving, being in a car, or reading the newspaper are addressed by the gradual and careful approaching these situations.

• The Technique of Grounding in PTSD
Grounding is a very important and effective technique to tackle experiencing of flashbacks and traumatic events in the past which also include losing touch with the present. Grounding teaches a PTSD sufferer to stop losing touch with the present moment by concentrating and focusing on the present or by directing your attention to something else.
Examples of Grounding techniques includes
 Touching objects around you, and explain them (texture, colour). Objects such as chair, fabric, carpet and describing them such as ‘The carpet is red’, ‘The fabric is soft’, ‘I am sitting on the red chair.’
 Running of water over your hands and describing aloud how it feels.
 Naming different types of animals you can think of (e.g zebra, cat, dog, cow, e.t.c) and types of flowers.

Effective Non-Medical ways to Managing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

1. Avoiding Stressful Situations
   If you had nightmares as a result of PTSD the avoiding stressful situations should be part of your first line of action. Avoid engaging in challenging and stressful activities such going for a meeting, dissertation defense, going to the airport. Engage yourself in calming and relaxing activities. Application of lavender, sage, peppermint, or any other relaxing oil massaged on the spot between eyebrows

2. Stop Watching the News
   Avoid watching the news but instead subscribing to an email newsletter with major headlines would be a wise decision. This would make you stay up-to-date with the latest events happening around the globe and at the same time not getting triggered by disturbing moving images viewed on screen or the voices of newly traumatised people.

3. Detach Yourselves from Negative People.
   Distancing yourselves from negative and toxic people and associating yourselves with kind and supportive people would help you not to feel destabilised when you really need the support of kind folks who can bring you out of your darkest moments and not dragging you to new ones.

1. Engage Yourselves in Creative Activities.
   Absorb yourselves in something creative, fun and enjoyable. Creative activities such as painting, collage, photographing, tattoos are great ways to treat depression and other PTSD symptoms. Hobbies such as singing, gardening, interpretive dancing, cooking are also great examples.

2. Set Boundaries
   Stop watching television shows with disturbing and unorthodox contents. Shows that take place in prisons, crime-related shows and events on the screen can triggered traumatic stress relapse in a recuperative patient. Television programs about gangs, guns, murder and prisons are not entertainment.

3. Go Easy on Yourself
   Recognising and accepting one’s shortcomings when you’re having a particularly difficult episode would go a long way towards settling it sooner rather than later.

This therapy for the treatment of PTSD requires varying levels of self-work, self-care, and self-awareness, which starts off intimidating (and painful) but eventually becomes essential.

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