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Posted June 27, 2018 by Patrick A. Palmieri, Ph.D. Director, Traumatic Stress Center
June 27th is PTSD Awareness Day (and all of June is PTSD Awareness Month). PTSD, or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, is a condition that can develop following highly stressful life experiences. Some examples of these traumatic events are military combat, sexual assault, transportation accidents, and natural disasters. Such trauma exposure is quite common. Most people will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime.
There are many common emotional, cognitive, physical and behavioral reactions to traumatic experiences. Emotionally, these can include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anger or fear. Cognitively, it can include difficulty concentrating, confusion or paranoia. Physical symptoms can include nausea, headaches and feeling faint or dizzy. Traumatized individuals may engage in reckless or self-destructive behaviors such as excessive alcohol or other substances use, often in an attempt to cope with their distress. These are all just some examples of the kinds of reactions people might have.
Virtually everyone exposed to a traumatic event experiences some of these symptoms. They are normal reactions to highly frightening or dangerous experiences. Fortunately, for many people these tend to improve with time without formal clinical intervention, often with the help of a strong social support network of family and friends.
However, for some people the symptoms persist or worsen and interfere with functioning in life. PTSD is one possible persistent condition that could emerge following trauma exposure. It is one of the more common mental disorders, with 5-10% of people estimated to suffer from it at some point in their lives.
There are four main categories of PTSD symptoms:
If you experience enough of these symptoms for at least a month and if they are causing significant impairment in your quality of life or overall functioning, you might be suffering from PTSD and you could benefit from consulting a qualified healthcare provider for an evaluation and, if recommended, treatment.
Do not lose hope! Despite what seems to be a common perception, PTSD is NOT a life sentence. Fortunately, there are effective treatments for PTSD, most notably, different forms of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy.
The Summa Health Traumatic Stress Center is an outpatient specialty clinic located at Summa St. Thomas Campus in Akron, OH. Our mission is to address the mental and behavioral health needs of traumatized individuals and families in Northeast Ohio. We do this in three inter-related ways: providing compassionate evidence-based clinical assessment and treatment services, training current healthcare providers and the next generation of providers in trauma-informed best practices, and conducting research to advance the understanding and treatment of traumatic stress. Clinically, we conduct comprehensive diagnostic evaluations and provide the most evidence-based, effective psychotherapies for treating PTSD and other trauma-related conditions. We can be reached at 330.379.5094 for more information or to schedule an appointment.