Signs and Symptoms of Trauma
The concept of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, has become more familiar in recent years. As is often the case, however, increased familiarity with the term can lead to it being used inaccurately. Not every person reacts to a traumatic incident by developing PTSD.
Clinical Signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
In order for a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, he or she must evidence a constellation of symptoms. These symptoms must persist for more than a month and have a significant impact on the person’s daily life. Symptoms fall into three general categories.
Reliving the Traumatic Event
The sufferer may relive the event in several ways: through dreams, flashbacks or fearful perseveration. This re-experiencing of the trauma can be triggered by the sufferer’s own thoughts or by external stimuli such as places, sounds, objects or words. The sufferer is entirely unable to control such reliving.
Arousal Symptoms
The sufferer may show a vastly increased startle response and respond with fright or anger out of proportion to the stimulus. Sleep disorders are common, as are anxiety attacks or panic attacks.
Avoidance Symptoms
In order to protect themselves from unwonted arousal or reliving the experience, sufferers may avoid anything that reminds them of their trauma, such as places or events. This avoidance is often part of a generalized depression that steals pleasure from activities that the sufferer enjoyed before the trauma. Depression can also evidence itself as an emotional numbness — in order to avoid feeling anxiety or panic, the sufferer avoids all feelings. In some cases, the sufferer will repress all memory of the traumatic event.
Treating the Signs and Symptoms of Trauma
Once diagnosed, the PTSD sufferer can choose outpatient or residential therapy. Cognitive therapy relies on the sufferer learning coping strategies to deal with negative emotions such as anger, fear or guilt, while at the same time learning to replace difficult thoughts, feelings and emotions with less threatening ways of being. Symptoms of anxiety or depression may respond to medications. The therapist my help the sufferer learn relaxation techniques to deal with stress. Exposure therapy, similar to that used to treat phobias, may be of use.
While outpatient treatment is less expensive and allows the sufferer to remain in his or her home environment, there are many good reasons to consider residential trauma rehab centers. If the trauma took place in the home environment, inpatient therapy is more likely to succeed. Even if the trauma is not related to the immediate environment, inpatient treatment provides a safe haven where the patient can focus entirely on his or her recovery.
