Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

If you have PTSD, it means that you have various ongoing symptoms that result from shocking or painful events you've experienced in the past.

PTSD symptoms are divided into four categories: Re-experiencing symptoms; avoidance symptoms; arousal and reactivity symptoms; and cognition and mood symptoms. Here are some of the main examples of each.

Re-experiencing (or “intrusive memories”) symptoms:

  • Flashbacks...where memories of the traumatic event repeatedly come back to you in an intense way, often involving physical symptoms like racing heart, sweating, etc.

  • Nightmares or bad dreams related to the traumatic events

  • Anxious or fearful thoughts while awake, relating to the traumatic events

Avoidance symptoms:

  • Avoiding places or objects or people or activities or experiences that remind you of the traumatic events

  • Avoiding thoughts or emotions related to the traumatic events

Arousal & reactivity symptoms:

  • Sleeping problems

  • Being startled easily

  • Feeling irritable or tense

  • Reacting in angry outbursts

  • Always being vigilant, on guard for danger

Cognition (thinking) & mood (emotion) symptoms:

  • Difficulty remembering important aspects of the traumatic events

  • Unfair feelings and thoughts of guilt & blame

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Negative thoughts about oneself, others, and the world overall

  • Loss of interest in life activities that used to feel enjoyable

  • Difficulty maintaining close friendships

  • Strong feelings of guilt or shame

  • Self-destructive behavior (speeding, alcohol or drug abuse, etc.)

     

 

PTSD in Children

While older children and adolescents may experience many of the same PTSD symptoms as adults, young children, especially those younger than 6 years of age, may show, in addition to some of the adult symptoms, some of the following symptoms, too:

  • Bed-wetting, even after being toilet trained

  • Being unusually clingy to a parent or other adult

  • Re-enacting the traumatic event during play or drawing

  • Being unable to talk—or forgetting how to talk

If the above symptoms last longer than a month after the traumatic event(s), you may be suffering from PTSD. (If you are still within a month of the traumatic event(s), it may be called acute stress disorder.)

If you would like to begin work on reclaiming your peace of mind from PTSD, please call Michael Posner, MSW, LCSW at (918) 809-4777.