Trauma

What is a trauma?  You hear about trauma almost every day.  Someone or some group of people are suffering from the trauma of a natural disaster, or a plane crash; not to mention rail disasters or auto accidents.  As these days and years progress, mass shootings are the cause of trauma not only for the victims yet for the loved ones of victims as well.  So how is trauma defined?  Simply, trauma is a disordered physical or behavioral reaction resulting from severe mental, emotional, or physical stress.  In short it is an emotional upset.  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop following any traumatic event which may threaten either your safety or cause you to feel helpless.  Most people associate PTSD with soldiers who have been at war.  It is the most common cause of PTSD in men whom have fought in a war or have survived wounds or have gone through emotional stress; yet you should know that any overwhelming life experience can cause trauma especially when you don’t for see the experience and there is no control over the situation.  PTSD can affect people who witness catastrophic events, emergency rescue crew members, members of the police department and fire departments as well; even friends and family members whose loved ones have experienced a traumatic event.  It develops differently in each person, where it will develop, the hours or days after an experience, it may even take weeks, months or even years before the symptoms of PTSD appear.  Remember, any life shattering or emotional experience which leaves you feeling helpless or without hope can lead to trauma.

There are three main types of symptoms for PTSD:  (1) Re-experiencing the event, (2) Avoiding reminders of the event, (3) Increased anxiety and emotional arousal.  Others symptoms which are common of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are:  Anger, Guilt, Self Blame, Drug Addiction, Alcoholism, Mistrust, Hopelessness, Suicide, Alienation and Physical pain.  There are risk factors which involve the nature of the traumatic experience, risk which may increase your vulnerability.  A threat to your life or safety can ensure a traumatic experience and the more extreme, the greater the chances are of a person suffering from PTSD as a response.  Human inflicted harm or pain is more traumatic than the destruction bought about through nature, or a person’s ability to escape from such disasters or other traumatic events.  Two risk factors I have read about are: (1) History of mental illness and (2) Lack of coping skills; each involving escaping memories, avoiding memories and feelings and coping while under the onset of stress.

Treatment for PTSD consist of the person suffering from trauma to get involved in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy which involves the patient exposing themselves to their thoughts and emotions of situations which would remind them of the certain traumatic experience.  Therapy involves indentifying thoughts about the event especially thoughts, that could be distorted or non-sensical and then replacing them to gain balance.  Medications relieve some symptoms such as depression or anxiety. 

Written by Donald S.

Are your worries becoming an Anxiety

Have you ever noticed when you are worrying about something, that you have a spell of anger when you notice others seemingly being cool as early spring, and verily “laid back” without a care. This troubles me as I tend to worry about some of my problems in odd places and being in a crowd of people who are smiling or just being casual, I tend to get upset about what I am seeing and what I am experiencing in my life.  There are people who worry all the time, about money their families, jobs, their health or just about anything they can dwell upon.  The anxiety becomes so intense that it becomes a person’s way of life, even their own death to live in this manner, living with worry or Generalized Anxiety Disorder or (GAD).

People with (GAD) worry about worrying and this is what makes these people different from the ones who are “normal” or who are able to cope with what worries them.  Having thoughts is fine if you are thinking on a concrete basis, yet people suffering from (GAD) wonder why all the thoughts are there and why can’t they stop them. Sounds a bit schizophrenic to me, as I have similar episodes when I worry, I can’t keep a single train of thought without worrying what is wrong with me that I can’t find answers or control the many thoughts I am having.  Yet chronic anxiety has physical symptoms most people do not think of those are, muscle pain, headaches or neck pains, shortness of breath and abnormal tiredness.  If you were ordinarily worrying about something in general such as an ice cube melting you wouldn’t have symptoms such as these, yet there are other symptoms, such as, dizziness, sweating, restlessness, having difficulty in concentrating and irritability.  I relax after understanding knowing I don’t fall into this category of symptoms and that ordinarily, a little frustration doesn’t mean the world is going to end if I use some problem solving techniques and learn to relax to change the thoughts which cause me to worry before I reach the state of anxiety.  Exercise also helps reduce the stress of worry, and also distracts you from falling into that snare of anxiety.  (GAD) is found to lead people into depression and this comes from those who think they can live their life with such and without treatment.

The sooner you get treatment before your little worry becomes anxiety, the better off you would be and any cares you can leave behind will take you into the realm of being normal and free.    

Written By Donald Sammons