Find a therapist near you

City or Zip Code:

Powered by: Psychology Today

Advertisement

Mental Health Mental Health Treatment

Trauma's Aftermath: Coping with PTSD

In an era where the threat of terrorism looms over daily life, post-traumatic stress disorder has become as part of the everyday language. This condition, which is known as PTSD, is a reaction that can occur following any kind of traumatic event or series of events.

The best approach to preventing and treating PTSD has been hotly debated in trauma centers and in the media in recent years. And a controversial drug now being studied may help suppress memories that could lead to PTSD. Below, Dr. James Chu, the chief of hospital clinical services at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachuttes, and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, discusses how PTSD, and the way one copes with it, varies from person to person.

What is PTSD?
PTSD is exposure to extremely traumatic events—including situations where one witnesses death or serious injury to somebody else, or where someone is in fear for their own life. It is actually fairly common. Many people get through these events without many residual effects. But some people who have such an experience later go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. They can either develop it immediately after the event, or in some cases they may develop it months or years after the event occurred.

How do you know you have PTSD?
A diagnosis of PTSD is usually made when four symptom clusters come together. The first is that event itself took place. The second cluster is the experience of intrusive memories, thoughts, nightmares and/or flashbacks of the event. The third cluster has to do with trying to avoid thinking about or remembering the event. People may try to avoid situations that might remind them about the event, and they tend to feel emotionally constricted or numb and avoid social contact. The fourth cluster has to do with how the body responds physically. People develop what psychiatrists call chronic hyperarousal, which means they are chronically anxious, jumpy, irritable and experience panic attacks and disturbed sleep.

What kind of events can lead to PTSD?
Clinicians who work in the trauma field divide traumatic experiences—somewhat artificially—into single-event trauma and chronic traumatization. Single-event trauma can be something like an automobile accident or being caught in a hurricane. Of course, even among single-event traumas, there are things that are less traumatic or more traumatic. In general, events that cause intrusive bodily harm, such as being raped, are more traumatic. It's not only physically painful and intrusive, but it's intentionally aggressive, sadistic and exploitive.

Certain kinds of chronic traumatization are almost universally damaging. Ongoing traumatization usually includes some kind of captivity, either physical or psychological. Examples include domestic battering, ongoing child abuse and certain kinds of wartime situations such as being a prisoner of war or being tortured.

Page 1 of 3 Next Page >>