The Everything Guide to Overcoming PTSD

Simple, effective techniques for healing and recovery

Romeo Vitelli

• Publisher: Everything
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781440574627
• eBook ISBN: 9781440574634
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Mental Health & Wellbeing

Expert advice for conquering the effects of trauma!

If you have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), everyday life may seem overwhelming. But you're not alone--there's hope for recovery, and you can learn how to take control of your emotions. The Everything Guide to Overcoming PTSD includes in-depth information on:

• Traditional treatments, including psychotherapy, drug therapy, and cognitive behavioral theory.
• New methods of support, like mindfulness therapy and animal therapy.
• Ways to reverse the physical effects of PTSD.
• Techniques for treating children who have developed PTSD.

While PTSD is typically associated with war and veteran soldiers, recent studies have found this debilitating condition can be caused by a variety of traumatic events, from a neglectful childhood, medical emergency, and natural disasters to car accidents or physical assaults. No matter what the cause, you'll find supportive advice and treatment techniques to help you find the resilience you need to recover from traumatic events and start living a happier, healthier life.

CHAPTER 1
The Basics of PTSD

Most everyone has experienced stressful situations in their lives, but sometimes these events can have a lasting impact on a person’s mental and physical well-being. According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) released in early 2013, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as “the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to one or more traumatic events.” The DSM-5 goes on to define a traumatic event as occurring when a person “experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.” Though most people who experience traumatic events will not develop PTSD, there is no way to predict who will develop symptoms and who will not.

Definition of PTSD

The three major features that characterize PTSD are the re-experiencing of the traumatic event through dream and/or waking thoughts; emotional numbing to other life experiences and relationships; and symptoms of autonomic instability, depression, and cognitive difficulties (such as poor memory or concentration). In people with PTSD, autonomic instability can include physiological signs of high stress including rapid heartbeat, excessive sweating, and high or low blood pressure. Though some degree of acute stress is often found in people experiencing traumatic events, a diagnosis of PTSD typically requires that symptoms last longer than one month and that they are severe enough to interfere with occupational or social functioning.

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It is important to draw a clear distinction between words such as “traumatic” and “stressful,” which are often treated interchangeably. Though there can be some overlap between how people respond to traumatic events and highly stressful situations, they are not the same thing. Everyone faces everyday hassles and life-changing events such as unemployment, but survivors and families of survivors know that traumatic stress is very different.

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The full DSM-5 diagnostic criteria are included in Appendix A for your reference along with a widely used PTSD diagnostic checklist in Appendix B, but these are not intended for self-diagnosis. While you may recognize many of the symptoms in yourself or someone you care about, a proper diagnosis should only be completed by a trained professional who has experience dealing with cases of PTSD.

Alternative Definition

As an alternative to the DSM-5 criteria, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), defines PTSD as:

• Exposure to a stressful event or situation (either short or long lasting) of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature that is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone.
• Persistent remembering or “reliving” the stressor by intrusive flashbacks, vivid memories, recurring dreams, or by experiencing distress when exposed to circumstances resembling or associated with the stressor.
• Actual or preferred avoidance of circumstances resembling or associated with the stressor (not present before exposure to the stressor).
• Either:

1. Inability to recall, either partially or completely, some important aspects of the period of exposure to the stressor

2. Persistent symptoms of increased psychological sensitivity and arousal (not present before exposure to the stressor) shown by any two of the following: difficulty in falling or staying asleep; irritability or outbursts of anger; difficulty in concentrating; hypervigilance (extreme sensitivity to one’s surroundings, i.e., compulsive scanning of the environment for potential threats); or exaggerated startle response

Much like the DSM-5 criteria, the ICD-10 guidelines are only regarded as applicable if the symptoms arise within six months of a severe traumatic event. Since there are a number of other psychological or medical conditions that can mimic some of the symptoms of PTSD (which will be covered in a later chapter), clinical diagnosis needs to be left up to a qualified mental health professional. It is also possible for post-traumatic symptoms to arise much later than six months, even decades later, if the PTSD sufferer experiences a situation similar enough to the initial event to trigger PTSD flashbacks. Such cases tend to be rare and harder to treat as a result.

How PTSD Appears

How PTSD appears in an individual varies widely across sufferers, ranging from primarily fear-based responses (including being prone to flashbacks) and behavioral symptoms, to symptoms very similar to chronic depression. “Classic” PTSD can present with multiple symptoms. Some PTSD sufferers may deliberately conceal many of the symptoms they are experiencing to avoid being labeled as “crazy.”

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If you feel that you are experiencing some or all of the symptoms being described in this chapter, it is important to seek out a qualified mental health professional as soon as possible.

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When diagnosing PTSD in children younger than six years old, many of the diagnostic criteria are the same as they for adults and older children, except that traumatic exposure can also include learning that the traumatic event occurred to a parent or caregiver. Symptoms including flashbacks, avoidance of people, places, and objects that act as reminders, and blunted emotion or inability to feel positive emotions are also common in young children with PTSD. While children may not be able to articulate what is happening to them, PTSD symptoms can come out in how they play or in the form of frequent nightmares (whether or not the nightmares relate to the trauma).

Traumatized children are also prone to angry outbursts and even extreme temper tantrums along with hypervigilance (advanced state of sensory sensitivity), concentration problems, and sleep disturbances. Again, these symptoms need to have a disruptive effect in how the child relates to parents, teachers, or children their own age for a diagnosis of PTSD. Also, the effects of other medical conditions (including Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autism) need to be ruled out by a qualified professional.

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Appendix C contains resources including national organizations dedicated to making PTSD resources available to the general public. While not every organization will have a local chapter near you, these resources can recommend professionals and volunteers that you can contact. Your family doctor can also be a good person to put you in touch with available resources in your own neighborhood.

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Who Gets PTSD?

PTSD can occur in people facing potentially life-threatening situations and can overwhelm their natural ability to cope. This may include people surviving natural disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the effects of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, war veterans, peace officers, victims of domestic or sexual assault, accident victims, and victims of violence. Though not everyone who has encountered these traumatic events will develop PTSD, there is no way of predicting who will develop symptoms and how those symptoms will appear to other people.

As the definition of PTSD has broadened in recent years, the likelihood of being diagnosed has increased as well. While it is possible to be diagnosed with PTSD based on secondary trauma (e.g., learning that a loved one has died unexpectedly or learning about traumatic events experienced by a friend or loved one), these cases are often controversial.

Still, the potential for PTSD exists in anyone who has been touched by a traumatic event, whether directly or indirectly. As you will see in later sections, the effects of trauma can even be passed on from parents to their children, and dealing with PTSD is as much a burden for family members and friends as it is for survivors themselves.

How Common Is PTSD?

Developing PTSD symptoms is far more common than most people realize. According to the National Comorbidity Survey, more than 60.7 percent of men and 51.2 percent of women reported having experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. Many of the survey respondents reported experiencing two or more such events (56.3 percent of men and 48.6 percent of women). The most frequently reported traumas were:

1. Witnessing someone being badly injured or killed (35.6 percent of men and 14.5 percent of women)
2. Fire, flood, or other natural disasters (18.9 percent of men and 15.2 percent of women)
3. Life-threatening accidents (25 percent of men and 13.8 percent of women)

There are also significant differences in the types of traumatic events experienced by men and women. Men are more likely to experience combat, being physically assaulted, being threatened with a weapon, or being kidnapped or held hostage. Women, on the other hand, are far more likely than men to experience rape, sexual molestation, childhood neglect, and domestic violence.

Military veterans remain the most widely recognized group with respect to being diagnosed with PTSD. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 830,000 Vietnam veterans suffer from PTSD symptoms. That only applies to veterans who have been formally diagnosed with PTSD. In recent surveys, as many as four out of five veterans report one or more PTSD symptoms even decades after their war experience ended. Other occupational groups including police officers and firefighters have also been identified as being likely to experience traumatic events that could produce PTSD although available statistics are still scarce.

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Even people in occupations where there is a high risk of death or serious injury (such as construction work) can have an increased risk of developing PTSD, especially since many of these industries fail to provide mental health resources for workers experiencing job-related trauma. Some companies provide lists of health-care professionals for employees needing physical or mental health treatment. You can do your own research as well.

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Additional factors that can increase the likelihood of developing PTSD include age and prior history of traumatic exposure. Overall, younger people are more likely than older adults to experience traumatic events. A 1998 study suggested that people in the 16–20-year-old age bracket are most vulnerable. History of prior exposure to trauma also significantly increases likelihood of developing PTSD both in civilians and in the military.

Still, whatever the nature of the traumatic event that leads up to the development of PTSD, the end result is remarkably similar, whether in returning military veterans, victims of sexual assault, or survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Ultimately, PTSD occurs because people have been wounded beyond their ability to heal themselves.

PTSD Facts

Anyone can get PTSD. Despite the stigma that can get attached to developing symptoms of a mental disorder, everyone is vulnerable to experiencing a potentially traumatic event at some point in their lives. The risk for PTSD increases sharply if the traumatic event is sudden and unpredictable, lasts a long time (or seems to), involves a very real threat of sexual abuse or physical injury, appears likely to happen again, and involves more than one type of threatening event.

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Children are especially vulnerable to PT...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Top 10 Ways to Cope with Ptsd
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Basics of Ptsd
• Chapter 2: History of Ptsd
• Chapter 3: Ptsd and the Brain
• Chapter 4: Symptoms of Ptsd
• Chapter 5: Comparing Ptsd to Other Disorders
• Chapter 6: Who Ptsd Affects
• Chapter 7: Special Populations and Ptsd
• Chapter 8: The Role of Ptsd in Building Relationships
• Chapter 9: Ptsd Paired with other Disorders
• Chapter 10: Can Ptsd be Prevented?
• Chapter 11: If Someone you Love has Ptsd
• Chapter 12: Treatment for Ptsd
• Chapter 13: Therapy Options for Ptsd
• Chapter 14: The Family and Ptsd
• Chapter 15: Handling the Symptoms
• Chapter 16: What is Resilience?
• Chapter 17: When PTSD Goes Untreated: When Ptsd Goes Untreated: How not to Cope
• Chapter 18: Where to go from Here
• Appendix A: Dsm-5 Criteria for Ptsd Diagnosis
• Appendix B: Ptsd Checklist (Pcl)
• Appendix C: Useful Ptsd Resources
• Appendix D: Suggested Reading
• Acknowledgments
• Copyright