Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

What is posttraumatic stress disorder?

Frightening and overwhelming traumatic experiences can have a strong impact on your mind and emotions, especially if they are life threatening.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short, is an anxiety disorder and is one of a range of psychological reactions you can have to a traumatic incident such as:

• an accident
• sexual assault 
• violence
• a natural disaster, like bushfires, floods and cyclones 
• war
• torture.

Experiencing a stressful or upsetting event, such as breaking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, is not on the same scale as the traumatic events, such as those listed above, which can cause PTSD.

How a traumatic experience might affect you

It is not uncommon to experience strong emotional reactions like fear, horror, and helplessness at the time of a traumatic experience. Other emotions like sadness, guilt and anger are often felt in the days that follow.

These sort of reactions are normal and don't necessarily mean that there's a problem. If you are experiencing any of these feelings, it is important that you look after yourself.

Check out the fact sheet on Coping with a stressful event for some ideas about how to take care of yourself.

Most people will recover after a few weeks following a traumatic experience with the help of family and friends.

However, for a small group the distress following the event persists, and interferes with important areas of their functioning. In such cases , it can no longer be considered a normal response to traumatic exposure and a diagnosis of PTSD would be considered.

What might you be experiencing if you have PTSD?

PTSD can be distressing with negative consequences for your health and wellbeing. It can affect anybody from any culture - men and women, young people, and children. People with PTSD may:

• Not be able to get the incident out of their mind.
• Sleep badly.
• Feel irritable with themselves and the world in general.
• Have trouble concentrating.
• Abuse alcohol or drugs to block out memories.
• Become unusually busy to avoid dealing with the issues.
• Struggle with uni, school or work.
• Have trouble connecting with others.
• Feel depressed, panicky or anxious.

If you are experiencing any of these effects, it is important that you look after yourself and talk to someone about it.

Check out the section below on getting help for PTSD for more information.

PTSD symptoms cover three main areas

1. Intrusive memories

'Flashbacks', nightmares or daydreams 'intrude' into the life of someone with PTSD. They can be extremely vivid and sometimes make people feel as if the traumatic event is happening all over again. 

2. Avoidance

A natural response is often to avoid people or situations that remind them of the frightening event. For instance, if it was a car accident, they may not be able to drive or be a passenger. People with PTSD can become so numb that they 'shut down', withdraw from life, and have trouble connecting with others.

3. Heightened arousal

People with 'heightened arousal' feel jumpy and on edge. Some are constantly on the lookout for signs of danger, as if another traumatic could happen.

Getting help for PTSD

Nobody can snap out of PTSD, getting better takes professional help, time, and effort. PTSD is treatable and usually requires between 10 - 16 weeks of treatment.

The sooner you get treatment, the better. Early treatment will help the PTSD from becoming ingrained and persisting for a long time. If left untreated, PTSD can become a chronic disabling mental health disorder.

Where to get help

Your local doctor (GP) can make a start by seeing if your symptoms mean you have PTSD. A doctor can also help manage some of these symptoms.

If you experience PTSD, it's likely that a doctor will recommend you see a mental health professional. These include psychologists, counsellors and psychiatrists. Check out the Who can help you section for more information.

Types of treatment

Dealing with the memories

Talking about the traumatic event helps people confront what has happened to them. You can talk to your doctor, but a psychiatrist, psychologist or counsellor will be able to help more specifically with PTSD. They use a range of different ways to help you deal with the traumatic incident at your own pace.

Check out the following fact sheets for more information on the types of counselling used in PTSD treatment: Different counselling techniques and Cognitive behavioural therapy.

Stress Management

Your doctor or other health professional can help you ease the distress that comes with troublesome memories. Relaxation techniques, controlled breathing and other methods are an important part of managing PTSD symptoms.

Lifestyle

• Even though you may not feel like it, exercising and eating well can help.
• Try to return to your old routine. This will help you get some structure and security back into your life. 
• Go easy on the alcohol and other drugs - any good feeling from them is only temporary and the after effects usually make the PTSD worse.

Medication

Medication can be a useful part of the treatment mix for PTSD. Your local doctor or psychiatrist should be able to tell you about what's available. Currently, the most common are the new antidepressants. Some people may need to continue using medication to control their symptoms for up to a few years.

Helping someone with PTSD

If you have a friend or a family member who has PTSD, you might want to check out the Supporting someone with a mental illness fact sheet listed on the left hand side.

Links/resources

To get help for PTSD, please talk to your GP or mental health professional.

You can find more information on PTSD from the following organisations:

Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health www.acpmh.unimelb.edu.au

National Centre for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (USA)
www.ncptsd.va.gov

 

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, University of Melbourne for preparing this fact sheet.