What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? How Does It Arise? How Is It Treated?
When you’re involved in a car accident, you may experience some injuries that are immediately apparent and others that don’t show up for days, weeks, or months. For example, many soft-tissue injuries don’t initially cause significant discomfort. Another condition that may take some time to affect you is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can be every bit as debilitating as a broken bone or herniated disc.
What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?
PTSD is a mental/psychological condition commonly found in people who have been involved in or observed a traumatic event or series of traumatic events. A wide range of circumstances can produce PTSD, including rape or sexual assault, natural disasters, physical violence, terrorist acts, and serious accidents. Experts estimate that more than three percent of all adults in the United States suffer from some level of PTSD every year and nearly 10 percent of all Americans will experience PTSD at some point in life.
A person with PTSD typically has intense emotional thoughts related to the event that triggered the disorder. Many suffer from flashbacks or nightmares and have difficulty trusting others or forming healthy emotional bonds. A person who has been in a motor vehicle accident may relive the events surrounding the crash over and over, focusing on the more gruesome aspects, such as serious injuries to themselves and others.
What Are the Symptoms of PTSD?
After a traumatic triggering event has occurred, certain behaviors indicate the presence of PTSD:
- Changes in a person’s responses to external factors—PTSD generally makes one more irritable and likely to respond with anger or emotion. It can also manifest in reckless or self-destructive behavior, as well as heightened paranoia.
- Excessive and uncharacteristic mood swings—A person with PTSD may become either hyperactive or experience general malaise, often involving self-blame, fear, anger, guilt, or shame.
- Hibernation—Many people who suffer from PTSD choose to avoid the outside world, believing it best to protect themselves from exposure to further potentially traumatic events. This may involve self-imposed isolation away from people, places, things, or situations.
- Repeated thoughts about the traumatic event—The person may continually replay the events of the trauma, making it a recurring focus of all conscious thought.
How Is PTSD Treated?
The two most common methods for alleviating the symptoms of PTSD are through psychological/psychiatric care and the use of medication.
Mental health care may involve:
- Cognitive process therapy, where a therapist helps the patient confront and move past distressing memories or emotions
- Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, applied primarily to children and adolescents, which employs behavior modification to ease suffering
- Prolonged exposure therapy, where the victim is exposed to the PTSD triggers in a controlled environment in order to overcome fear and learn to manage the condition
- Group therapy, where the victim is encouraged to share their experiences with others who have suffered similar experiences
Contact InjuredCare to Connect with an Experienced Medical Professional
To get connected with the right professional to help you deal with PTSD, contact us online or call our offices today at 866-952-7045.
