SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

​

Severe Anxiety

Agitation/Irritable mood

Difficulty Sleeping

Nightmares

Flashbacks

Feeling Guilty

Hyper-vigilance

Self-Destructive Behavior

Loss of interest in usual activities

Distrust of others

Excessive Fear

Social Isolation / social conflict

Hostility

Depressive symptoms

Dissociation

Separate personality modes

Atypical sexual behaviour

Addictions

​

​

​

​

WHAT PTSD FEELS LIKE

​

Trauma is any event that causes someone to think “the world is no longer a safe place.” Even right now, our entire planet is going through a massive collective trauma that is going to have a significant impact on people’s mental health in a variety of ways far into the future. Those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD) are affected with symptoms on a daily basis long after the event has subsided. Trauma categories are single event trauma (Type 1) and recurrent prolonged trauma (Type 2). Phases of a traumatic crisis generally include shock phase, reaction phase, work phase, and re-orientation phase. 

 

Depending on the severity of the traumatic event, some people recover with time and through the support of family and friends, bouncing back with great resiliency, but for others, the effects of trauma are lasting, causing a person to live with deep emotional pain, fear, confusion, or post-traumatic stress and depression. In this case, a person may become stuck in the trauma and develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

​

Because of the nature of traumatic memories, memories recall as emotional and sensory, and emotional knowledge and cognitive knowledge are not integrated. Some parts of the event may be remembered in detail, while at the other extreme there might be complete oblivion. It becomes more difficult to process trauma-related observations in the mind and transfer them to a symbolic level, in which case the trauma experience doesn't get linked to previous experiences. Trauma narrows the focus of  the person's attention so that they easily notice a potential danger or threat. They remain alert to identify any hint of threat. For this reason, their bodies are in a state of chronic hyper-vigilance. Symptoms of hypersensitivity may include sleep disturbances, flickering, irritability, difficulty concentrating, excessive alertness, being constantly on guard and being unable to lead one's own life, thus remarkably lessening life satisfaction.

​

In PTSD, you may find your mind will replay the memories and images of the traumatic incident over in your mind as a means of processing and creating meaning out of the event. For a small period of time usually days or weeks, you may experience emotional distress with an increase in anxiety, worry and flashbacks. All of this is a normal reaction to trauma. With time, the memories and images will lose the emotional impact they once had and you will slowly return to normal or close-to-normal functioning where thoughts of the event no longer cause devastating distress. Often this outcome requires intensive trauma work which regrettably is seldom sought or prescribed.

​

TRAUMA & PTSD

​

Many of us have experienced some form of trauma in our life whether it be from a car wreck, the sudden death of a loved one, abuse or neglect, illness, natural disaster, or even exposure to violence or war. Trauma can be single event trauma such as a car crash, or prolonged trauma such as an ongoing physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Emotional abuse in particular can be difficult to detect before it has gone on for a long time; often with extremely harmful consequences even across generations.

 

It may be difficult to know when an event or experience has had a traumatizing effect. Trauma is any experience in which a person feels their own life or the life of another has been threatened, or a person has had to deal with an overwhelming emotion that has changed the brain's way of operating automatic tasks. Even if you have just witnessed a car wreck where someone was injured, killed or could have been killed- this event would likely be experienced as trauma to your brain since a remarkably intense alertness to a possible life-threat suddenly floods your mind.

​

One form of a more invisible trauma is Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN). It could be that our caregivers could or would not care for us physically or emotionally, and so we've learned to minimize our own needs in order to feel safer in the resulting psychological chaos and insecurity. This in turn can cause you to find yourself from situations where you repeat the trauma experience all over again subconsciously since it feels familiar and our brains like familiarity. Attachment traumas often impact our relationships long into adulthood. 

​

Often trauma memories are so intrusive that a person easily develops avoidance in his or her behaviour in order to escape possible strong feelings. The person might seemingly lose interest in everyday activities going back to said avoidance. Dissociation means incapability to connect trauma-related thoughts and emotions together in a meaningful way. Early childhood and Type 2 trauma can result in the composition of different conditions or modes of the self, or even separate identities that may or may not link with each other. 

​

If you know or suspect that you have experienced either Type 1 or 2 trauma that is causing you suffering, contact your doctor to explore the possibility of therapy. Although long-term symptoms of trauma are very common, only a small percent of those with symptoms seek therapeutic help. I'm glad you are reading this now. It might mean you're pondering on asking for help. I'm here whenever you're ready. I can refer you to a trauma specialist in case we discover that further consultation or treatment is needed.

​

​