Post Traumatic Stress Disorder :: Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD

JournalAccording to Sigmund Freud, accompaniments and emotions that are particularly disturbing are repressed into the unconscious. Often times this theory is true, but for people suffering from lay damagetic stress disorder, they only wish that it were true. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally asleep(p), in particular with people they were once close to. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled. PTSD was first brought to commonplace attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, peasant abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natur al disasters such as floods or earthquakes.People with PTSD may startle easily, become emotionally numb (especially in relation to people with whom they used to be close), lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble feeling affectionate, be irritable, become much aggressive, or even become violent. They avoid situations that remind them of the original incident, and anniversaries of the incident are often very difficult. PTSD symptoms seem to be worse if the event that triggered them was deliberately initiated by another person, as in a mugging or a kidnapping. Most people with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in their thoughts during the day and in nightmares when they sleep. These are called flashbacks. Flashbacks may consist of images, sounds, smells, or feelings, and are often triggered by ordinary occurrences, such as a gate slamming or a car backfiring on the street. A person having a flashback may lose touch with reality and believe that the traumatic incident is contingency all over again. PTSD affects about 7.7 million American adults,but it can occur at any age, including childhood. Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men, and there is some evidence that susceptibility to the disorder may run in families. PTSD is often accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or iodin or more of the other anxiety disorders. Many people with anxiety disorders benefit from joining a self-help or support group and sharing their problems and achievements with others. earnings chat rooms can also be useful in this regard, but any advice received over the Internet should be used with caution, as Internet acquaintances have usually never seen each other and false identities are common.