[Health Tips] PTSD; Meaning, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Complications and Treatments

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition that some people develop after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic life-threatening event or serious injury.

Traumatic events can make us feel as if our lives are unpredictable, as if we are out of control, and as if we cannot trust other people, ourselves, or our judgments. Our experiences are frequently unfair, unjust, inhumane, and cruel, and they can cause us to question our beliefs about the world and others. We can lose faith and lose touch with others.

It’s normal to feel these emotions, as well as have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have difficulty sleeping after such an event, but if symptoms last more than a few months and interfere with your daily life, it could be PTSD. PTSD is a natural reaction to a strange situation.

NewsClick Nigeria reports that Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari recently shared President Muhammadu Buhari’s challenges with PTSD after fighting the civil war, detention and three consecutive election losses. The President was lucky to have her by his side while going through the challenges as many who do not have a partner or a caring one at that might not recover from it easily.

It is estimated that half of all people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. A traumatic event is defined by its ability to elicit fear, helplessness, or horror in response to the threat of injury or death, and thus can affect anyone. Assaults, traffic accidents, natural disasters, domestic and child abuse, war, terrorist acts, and traumatic childbirth are all examples of traumatic events.

The majority of people exposed to traumatic events experience some short-term distress, but eventually, their trauma fades to a memory – painful, but not destructive. However, around 20% of people who experience a trauma go on to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Symptoms

Symptoms usually begin early, within three months of the traumatic incident, but sometimes they begin years afterward.

PTSD typically causes four different groups of symptoms:

• reliving the traumatic event perhaps in the form of flashback, nightmares or intrusive memories (also called re-experiencing or intrusion);
• avoiding situations that are reminders of the event;
• negative changes in beliefs and feelings;
• and feeling hypervigilant and fearful to people and the world around you (also called hyperarousal).

There is a second, subtype of PTSD, called Complex PTSD, or C-PTSD. This is usually a result of repeated, or sustained traumas, and presents in a similar way to PTSD, but with some additional symptoms too.

When you have PTSD, the world feels unsafe. You may have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping. You may also try to avoid things that remind you of your trauma — even things you used to enjoy.

What causes PTSD?

The human body is an amazing system, but it is also complicated and full of feedback loops between body parts and the brain. If you significantly disrupt any of these loops (as in the case of trauma), you can affect the entire system.

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can affect people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. Simply put, PTSD is a memory filing error caused by the brain’s’suspending’ normal function during a traumatic situation. Because it causes a wide range of life-altering and intrusive symptoms, PTSD can cause significant distress and disruption of social and occupational functioning, causing major problems in relationships and jobs.

Prevention

• Be open about your condition and share your experiences with family and friends
• Spend quality time with family and friends.
• Maintain a healthy diet.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Exercise regularly
• Learn and practise stress managing exercises
• Avoid caffeine and tobacco.
• Avoid alcohol and drugs.
• Engage in hobbies to relieve stress and anxiety.