What kind of support do people with ptsd need?

When a partner, friend, or family member has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it affects you too.

PTSD

isn't easy to live with and can severely affect relationships and family life. You may be hurt by your loved one's distance and bad mood, or you may have difficulty understanding their behavior, why they are less affectionate and more volatile. You may feel like you're walking on eggshells or living with a stranger.

You may also have to take care of most of the household chores and deal with the frustration of a loved one who won't be honest. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder can even result in job loss, substance abuse, and other problems that affect the entire family. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals use several effective (research-proven) methods to help people recover from post-traumatic stress disorder. The comfort for someone with post-traumatic stress disorder comes from feeling engaged and accepted by you, not necessarily from talking.

It's hard not to take the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder personally, but it's important to remember that a person with PTSD may not always control their behavior. Some antidepressants, such as SSRIs and SNRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), are commonly used to treat the main symptoms of PTSD. You may have post-traumatic stress disorder if the problems you experience after this exposure continue for more than a month and cause significant problems in your ability to function in social and work environments and have a negative impact on relationships. Psychotherapy, sometimes called “talk therapy,” includes a variety of treatment techniques that mental health professionals use to help people identify and change worrying emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

Many people who are exposed to a traumatic event experience symptoms similar to those described above in the days after the event. The diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder requires exposure to an event that would involve the real or possible threat of death, violence, or serious injury. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, a series of events, or a set of circumstances. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder usually begin within 3 months of the traumatic incident, but sometimes appear later.

Cognitive processing therapy, long-term exposure therapy, and stress inoculation therapy (described below) are among the types of CBT used to treat PTSD. People can experience a variety of reactions after trauma, and most will recover from their symptoms over time. It's important for anyone with symptoms of PTSD to work with a mental health professional who has experience treating PTSD. To meet the criteria for PTSD, symptoms must last longer than 1 month and must be severe enough to interfere with aspects of daily life, such as relationships or work.

Engaging with others who have been through similar traumatic experiences can help some people with post-traumatic stress disorder feel less damaged and alone. PTSD was known by many names in the past, such as “shell shock” during the years of World War I and “combat fatigue” after World War II, but PTSD doesn't just happen to combat veterans. .

Clarissa Tohill
Clarissa Tohill

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