PTSD Symptoms: What You Need to Know

According to statistics, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects about four percent of people in the U.S. annually. While it is believed that the condition affects war veterans that survived traumatic events, PTSD can occur to anyone regardless of gender, age, or socioeconomic status. It can even affect people who did not directly experience trauma but witnessed the frightening event. Fortunately, this condition is treatable, and many people have overcome the symptoms. At New York rappore, the therapist or psychiatrist will develop an individualized treatment plan to relieve your symptoms. So, how do you know you have PTSD? Here is a look at the common types of PTSD symptoms to look out for.

Intrusive Memories

Intrusive memories are one of the most common symptoms of PTSD. These symptoms make you feel like you are recreating a past traumatic event. Examples of intrusive memory symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, and bad memories. These intrusive flashbacks and thoughts occur outside your control. These symptoms, such as flashbacks, can even lead to physical effects such as sweating or rapid heartbeat. Things, words, or situations related to the traumatic event can trigger these symptoms. Intrusive memories might also occur in the form of nightmares about the traumatic event.

Avoidance Symptoms

Avoidance symptoms make you avoid particular people, places, and situations that trigger your traumatic memories. For this reason, you will also avoid discussing or thinking about the event that might change your normal life routine. For instance, if you were mugged n your way back home from work, you might start avoiding that route or change your transportation mode.

 Cognitive Symptoms

Cognitive symptoms involve negative thoughts about yourself or the world. If you are experiencing cognitive symptoms, you might find it hard to trust people or feel happy. You might also have difficulty remembering essential aspects of the event, and you might feel blame or guilt for what happened. If you are experiencing overwhelming feelings of sadness, anger, shame, or guilt as a result of a traumatic event, this is a sign of PTSD. 

Hyperarousal Symptoms

Hyperarousal symptoms include feeling angry, stressed, easily startled, or jumpy. For instance, you can experience angry outbursts due to inconveniences that wouldn’t normally cause such a reaction. You might also experience paranoia that makes it easy to react. These symptoms are not triggered by a particular situation or person. When experiencing hyperarousal symptoms, you might have trouble concentrating or sleeping. You may also begin to engage in unhealthy or risky behaviors such as using alcohol, smoking, or irresponsible driving.

To sum up, these are the common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder to look out for. However, remember that your symptoms must result from the traumatic event and are separate from symptoms you might experience due to mental illness, substance abuse, etc. otherwise, that won’t be a sign of PTSD. If you or your loved one is experiencing symptoms of PTSD, consulting a healthcare provider will help prevent PTSD symptoms from becoming worse. The common treatments of PTSD include a combination of cognitive therapy and medications such as ketamine infusion therapy.

Jay Aguila