If you, or someone you know is thinking about suicide or hurting yourself/themselves
Please Call 911 for Emergencies
(800) 273-8255- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and answered locally.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
What is PTSD?
PTSD (post- traumatic stress disorder) is disorder that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a shocking, scary, or dangerous event, like death of a family member, a car accident, or sexual assault.
It's natural to experience reactions or feel afraid after trauma, but most people will recover from initial reactions after a few weeks or months. Those who continue to have symptoms over few months may be diagnosed with PTSD.
What are the Symptoms?
Symptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but sometimes may not appear until months or years later. There are four types of symptoms in PTSD.
- Re-experiencing symptoms
- Flashbacks
- Bad memories
- Nightmares
- Frightening thoughts
- Avoidance symptoms
- Trying to avoid stuff that will trigger memories of traumatic events (situations, people, objects)
- Avoid talking, thinking or feelings related to traumatic event
- Hyperarousal (arousal and reactivity)
- Being easily startled
- Being jittery
- Feeling tense or “on edge”
- Having difficulty sleeping
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Act in an unhealthy way (smoking, using drugs or alcohol)
- Cognition and mood swings
- Negative thoughts about oneself or the world
- Loss of interest in enjoyable activities
- Distorted feelings like guilt or shame
- Hard to feel happy.
How do I get Diagnosed?
First, talk to your athletic trainer, doctor, or health care professional about your symptoms.
Psychiatrist or psychologist, can diagnose PTSD. For an adult to be diagnosed as PTSD, they must have all of the following for at least 1 month:
- At least one re-experiencing symptom
- At least one avoidance symptom
- At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms
- At least two cognition and mood symptoms
How do I get Treatment?
There are two main types of treatment, psychotherapy (talk therapy, consoling) and medication or the combination of the two.
- Psychotherapy: Involves meeting with a mental health professional. Main components for psychotherapy includes, education about the symptoms, teaching skills to help identify the trigger, and skills to manage symptoms. Also cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one helpful form of psychotherapy. CBT can include the followings.
- Exposure therapy: Gradually exposes them to the trauma in a safe way to help people face and control the fear of the trauma. This will get more control over your thoughts and feelings and help cope with their feelings. They can talk write or actually visit the place where the event happened to expose oneself to the trauma.
- Cognitive restructuring: Looking at the trauma in a realistic way to help people make sense of the bad memories they have. Sometimes people remember the event in a different way then what actually happened. This therapy will help people understand the guilt or shame that they have is not their fault.
- Medication: The most studied medications for treating PTSD include antidepressants, which may help control PTSD symptoms such as sadness, worry, anger, and feeling numb inside. Medications may be helpful for specific symptoms from PTSD like sleep problems, particularly nightmares.
Helpful Links
National Institution of Mental Health
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml
National Center for PTSD
https://www.ptsd.va.gov/
Understanding PTSD and PTSD Treatment
https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/understanding_ptsd/booklet.pdf
Self-Help and Coping
https://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/treatment/cope/index.asp
Videos
What is a PTSD?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMC2jt_QVEE
PTSD Treatment: Know Your Options
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeLLt39DI8A
Prolonged Exposure for PTSD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHg_SlEqJGc
Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqj5zDbkPxY&t=36s
Prescribing for PTSD: Know Your Options
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k08Kryo1HiE&t=90s
Understanding PTSD: Gina's story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZLD9z6_bFI
