What You Might
Not Know about
PTSD
Jan 25, 2022 | By: Hope for the Journey
PTSD Help in Austin, Texas for kids, adults, parents, and partners.Â
PTSD: On The Rise in 2022
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Often at the start of a new year, it is a time for goal-setting and New Year’s Resolutions. We may feel very open to growth, improvement, and setting ourselves up for success. During this time of year, we become more optimistic and excited for future possibilities. Â
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This year, though, you may find that you’re feeling different about goal-setting. You may be feeling different about yourself as a whole. You may not feel motivated to make resolutions. Or, you’re noticing chronic exhaustion instead. It can feel hard to even make it through the day, let alone think about making any significant changes to your life. It could be that you’re having a hard time concentrating or focusing on one thing. If any of these sound familiar, there might be more to what’s going on than you think. Â
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As we begin 2022, we are now entering into our third year of a global pandemic. Despite (or due to) differing opinions and responses to the pandemic, everyone has felt affects in some way. The continued spread and rise of COVID-19 cases have affected many aspects of life. This includes our routines, social interactions, and our sense of safety and control.Â
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Plus, all of this is happening on top of everything else that was already going on in your life…your stressful job, your traumatic past, or your strained relationships. It’s no wonder that you may experience additional mental health struggles! You may even be experiencing a trauma response known as PTSD. PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is ongoing. It impacts your emotions, senses, and body so much that your ability to work, do things, or be in healthy relationships becomes hard.Â
PTSD Treatment For Round Rock, Texas
One symptom of PTSD is having trouble getting your brain off the traumatic event. With COVID-19, many have found that they spend hours
PTSD Treatment online for all of Texas
Texas If you're experiencing this, you might benefit from PTSD help. Luckily, the team at Hope For The Journey offers PTSD Treatment. We do so from our offices in Round Rock, Austin, and also online for people all over Texas.
PTSD Treatment for Kids, Adults, Parents, & Partners
Hope For The Journey offers PTSD treatment for all. If you need help for yourself, your child, or as a family, we are here to help with EMDR-trained therapists in Texas.
PTSD: Not just for Veterans
Oftentimes, when imagining PTSD, we think of combat veterans. They often return home and struggle with their exposure to extreme violence during a war. Others who experience exposure to actual or threatened violence are also at risk for developing PTSD. This includes:
- Sexual assault survivors,
- Those who have experienced and survived natural disasters,
- Witnesses to domestic violence,
- Car accident victims,
- Etc.
The main criterion for the development of PTSD is some type of exposure to a violent event. But, what people often do not realize is that exposure to a violent event does not always mean that the event happened to you. For example, you may not have been diagnosed with COVID-19 throughout this pandemic. But, someone you love may have been. You might not have gotten deathly ill, but you might know someone who was affected. Finally, you are always exposed to related death tolls via news outlets and social media.
Here’s what PTSD looks like:
PTSD Symptom #1: You Have At Least 1 Re-Experiencing (or Intrusion) Symptom
A Re-Experiencing or Intrusion Symptom is when you can’t seem to stop thinking about an event. It means that you find yourself thinking about the traumatic event even when you do not want to. You may find it hard to control these thoughts. It may almost feel as if your brain automatically jumps to thinking about it.
For example, you may notice that you’re often thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic. You’re checking the news and participating in debates on social media. But even when you’re not doing these things, you find yourself thinking about it. You may even feel upset over and over again. Or if you were in a past car accident, you may feel as though everything reminds you of it. When you experience these reminders, it stresses you so much that even braving the day is hard.
Intrusion symptoms can also include dreams or nightmares. So, you may be able to distract yourself during the day and not focus on a traumatic event(s) with success. But, you often find yourself waking up in the middle of the night or the morning feeling panicked. You remember bits and pieces of your dream (or not) and you know that it had to do with your past trauma. Or, the traumatic events that you were exposed to. The quality of sleep is poor and that, in turn, impacts your mindset throughout the whole day. The memory or your panicked response becomes harder and harder to avoid addressing.
Another example of a re-experiencing symptom is when your body has physical responses to reminders of the trauma exposure. Not only does your brain respond to traumatic events, but your body does as well. Picture this: every time you come into contact with updated information about the coronavirus, you then feel nauseous. Your stomach clenches, and it may feel like you have to throw up. Your body provides a stress response before your brain even has time to have a conscious think about it. That is an automatic physiological response to repeated trauma exposure. What’s more, it is a sign that you might have PTSD.
PTSD Symptom #2: You Have At Least 1 Avoidance Symptom
People who have PTSD work hard to avoid memories, thoughts, and feelings about the trauma. This also includes external reminders like people, places, or things that might remind them of the trauma. When we know that reminders of traumatic events cause us to feel negative, it’s natural that we would want to avoid them. We tend to shy away from discomfort to keep ourselves feeling safe and happy. But, if and when the avoidance impacts our relationships, our work, our routine, and other areas of our lives, it may be an indicator that you have PTSD. If so, you may benefit from some help.
PTSD Symptom #3: You Have At least 2 Negative Changes to Your Thinking and Mood
Exposure to a traumatic event can impact the way that you think and feel about yourself, the event, and the world. It’s normal to feel sad, mad, guilty, etc. when something bad happens to you or to someone that you love. Criteria for PTSD are met when your negative mood and negative thought processes are persistent and exaggerated.
For example, You got out of a recent abusive relationship. You might truly believe that nobody can be trusted and that you will be alone forever. Other examples of the changes in mood and thinking that meet PTSD criteria include:
- Continued self-blame
- Lack of interest in hobbies or preferred activities
- Feeling isolated from others
- And struggling to feel positive emotions
PTSD Symptom #4: You Have At least 2 Negative Changes in Reactivity
Exposure to trauma can also impact our actions and our reactions. All of a sudden, you find that you have way less patience. Any little thing can set you off and now it feels typical for you to yell or act out physically. You may also find that you’re choosing to engage in reckless or self-destructive behavior. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, you may notice that you’re often hypervigilant and watching out for danger. Trouble concentrating and experiencing sleep disturbances are other consequences of trauma. Oftentimes, they can be components of PTSD.
What Can We Do About PTSD?
Experiencing any of these things on their own might not seem like a big deal. But, if you are struggling with enough of these symptoms, life can get pretty difficult. If your response to trauma is left alone, it can make all the other things in your life seem extra heavy. You deserve to thrive as opposed to feeling as though you can barely keep your head above water. This past year has been tough. It may have shown you that what you were doing to manage the stress isn’t working the same way that it was before. Why not start this new year by doing something different to help you feel better?
The good news is there is help for PTSD. Have you found yourself relating to any of the symptoms listed above? If you would like extra support to further explore your stress response, please reach out to Hope For the Journey. Or, another trauma therapist!