Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. If you’re experiencing some of these 17 PTSD symptoms, consider talking to a healthcare provider to get the help and support that is best for you. Anyone with symptoms that last longer than a month should talk to a healthcare provider about what they’re experiencing.

If you’re diagnosed with PTSD, your healthcare professional will likely prescribe therapy, medication, or a combination of the two treatments. Their natural fight-or-flight response is altered, causing them to feel stressed or fearful, even when they’re in a safe situation. For a brief moment, you may become trapped in the past or separated from reality.

Signs of a PTSD Blackout

Women who have pregnancy complications or who give birth too early are more likely to get PTSD. If you find yourself worried and anxious weeks after a medical event has subsided, you may want to talk with a healthcare professional about being screened for PTSD. Even a minor illness or surgery can be traumatic if it really upsets you. People diagnosed with PTSD may also have abnormal levels of stress hormones, which may set off an overreactive fight or flight response.

Support groups can provide a safe space where you can discuss your feelings with other people who have PTSD. This can help you understand that your symptoms are not unusual and that you’re not alone. Teens may engage in activities with https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/dealing-with-ptsd-alcohol-blackouts-and-memory-loss/ a higher potential for negatively affecting their lives like drug or alcohol use to cope. A mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or psychiatric nurse practitioner, is best qualified to diagnose PTSD.

Postpartum PTSD

This includes illness-induced PTSD, also known as medical PTSD, where going through a traumatic medical event can cause PTSD. A study published in May 2018 in General Hospital Psychiatry found that the life quality of people with illness-induced PTSD to be similar to those who developed PTSD after an external event. Medical PTSD is not well researched but seems to commonly appear in patients with cancer, stroke, chronic pain and more.

If you are an adult survivor of childhood trauma you are likely to experience memory loss. The most common risk factor for PTSD is being exposed to a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster, combat, sexual abuse, or motor vehicle accident, are more likely to develop PTSD than those who have not. They may also have trouble sleeping, either due to nightmares or intrusive thoughts. People with PTSD may also experience sudden and sometimes hyper-realistic memories of the traumatic event, which can be very distressing. Whether your depression after divorce is temporary or long term, there are treatments available for you.