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a common way of being diagnosed with PTSD is witnessing a life threatning situation.When the stress disappears, the level of adrenaline should go back to normal. InPTSD, it may be that the vivid memories of the trauma keep the levels of adrenaline high. ... This means that flashbacks and nightmares continue because the memories of the trauma can't be processed.

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Helping yourself

Do

keep life as normal as possible

get back to your usual routine

talk about what happened to someone you trust

try relaxation exercises

go back to work

eat and exercise regularly

go back to where the traumatic event happened

take time to be with family and friends

be careful when driving - your concentration may be poor

be more careful generally - accidents are more likely at this time

speak to a doctor

expect to get better.

Don't

beat yourself up about it - PTSD symptoms are not a sign of weakness. They are a normal reaction of a normal person to terrifying experiences.

bottle up your feelings. If you have developed PTSD symptoms, don't keep it to yourself because treatment is usually very successful.

avoid talking about it

expect the memories to go away immediately; they may be with you for quite some time

expect too much of yourself. Cut yourself a bit of slack while you adjust to what has happened.

stay away from other people

drink lots of alcohol or coffee or smoke more

get overtired

miss meals

take holidays on your own.

What can interfere with getting better?

You may find that other people may:

not let you talk about it

avoid you

be angry with you

think of you as weak

blame you.

These are all ways in which other people protect themselves from thinking about gruesome or horrifying events. It won't help you because it doesn't give you the chance to talk over what has happened to you. And it is hard to talk about such things.

A traumatic event can put you into a trance-like state which makes the situation seem unreal or bewildering. It is harder to deal with if you can't remember what happened, can't put it into words, or can't make sense of it.

Treatment

Just as there are both psychological and physical aspects to PTSD, so there are both psychological and physical treatments for it.

Psychotherapy

All the effective psychotherapies for PTSD focus on the traumatic experience - or experiences - rather than your past life. You cannot change or forget what has happened. You can learn to think differently about it, about the world, and about your life.

You need to be able to remember what happened, as fully as possible, without being overwhelmed by fear and distress.

These therapies help you to put your experiences into words. By remembering the event, going over it and making sense of it, your mind can do its normal job of storing the memories away, and moving on to other things.

When you start to feel safer, and more in control of your feelings, you won't need to avoid the memories as much. You will be able to only think about them when you want to, rather than having them burst into your mind out of the blue.

All these treatments should all be given by PTSD specialists. The sessions should be at least weekly, with the same therapist, for 8-12 weeks. Although sessions will usually last around an hour, they can sometimes last up to 90 minutes.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy(CBT) is a talking treatment which can help us to understand how 'habits of thinking' can make the PTSD worse - or even cause it. CBT can help you change these 'extreme' ways of thinking, which can also help you to feel better and to behave differently.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing)

This is a technique which uses eye movements to help the brain to process flashbacks and to make sense of the traumatic experience. It may sound odd, but it has been shown to work.

Group therapy

This involves meeting with a group of other people who have been through the same, or a similar traumatic event.

It can be easier to talk about what happened if you are with other people who have been through a similar experience.

Medication

SSRI antidepressant tablets may help to reduce the strength of PTSD symptoms and relieve any depression that is also present. They will need to be prescribed by a doctor.

This type of medication should not make you sleepy, although they all have some side-effects in some people.

They may also produce unpleasant symptoms if stopped too quickly, so the dose should usually be reduced gradually. If they are helpful, you should carry on taking them for around 12 months. Soon after starting an antidepressant, some people may find that they feel more:

These feeling usually pass in a few days, but you should see a doctor regularly.

If these don't work for you, tricyclic and MAOI antidepressants may still be helpful.

Occasionally, if someone is so distressed that they cannot sleep or think clearly, anxiety-reducing medication may be necessary. These tablets should usually not be prescribed for more than 10 days or so.

Body-focussed therapies

These don't help PTSD directly, but can help to control your distress and hyperarousal, the feeling of being 'on guard' all the time.

These include physiotherapy and osteopathy, but also complementary therapies such as massage, acupuncture, reflexology, yoga, meditation and tai chi. They can help you to develop ways of relaxing and managing stress.

What works best?

At present, there is evidence that EMDR, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, behaviour therapy and antidepressants are all effective.

There is not enough information for us to show that one of these treatments is better than another. There is not yet any evidence that other forms of psychotherapy or counselling are helpful for PTSD.

Which treatment first?

Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) suggest that trauma-focused psychological therapies (CBT or EMDR) should be offered before medication, wherever possible.

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Do keep life as normal as possible get back to your usual routine talk about what happened to someone you trust try relaxation exercises go back to work eat and exercise regularly go back to where the traumatic event happened take time to be with family and friends be careful when driving - your concentration may be poor be more careful generally - accidents are more likely at this time speak to a doctor expect to get better.

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once you learn skills that help you cope with your symptoms more ways such as. treatment can also help you:
Make sense of the trauma
Learn skills to better handle negative thoughts and feelings
Reconnect with people you care about
Set goals for activities, like work or school, that you can handle

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Why Get Treatment? - PTSD: National Center for PTSD

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Describes barriers to getting care for PTSD, such as stigma. Suggests ways to overcome such barriers that may prevent seeking help.

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the treatments available for PTSD victims

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the treatments available for PTSD victims

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trauma-focused psychotherapies are the most useful treatment

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Choosing a Treatment - PTSD: National Center for PTSD

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Provides information and suggestions for choosing a therapist, including questions to ask about therapy and payment.

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the common reactions of PTSD is to be loaded with loads of stress

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Common Reactions After Trauma

Available en Español

When you experience a traumatic event, it's common to have an emotional reaction. Such stress reactions are normal and not weakness. Most people recover in time. Learn about stress reactions and problems that occur after trauma.

Reading time: minutes

What Are Common Reactions to Trauma?

All kinds of trauma create stress reactions. People often say that their first feeling is relief to be alive after a traumatic event. This may be followed by stress, fear and anger. Trauma may also lead people to find they are unable to stop thinking about what happened. Traumatic events can create a high level of arousal-or feeling alert or "on guard"-as well, which causes people to react strongly to sounds and sights around them.

If you understand what is happening when you or someone you know reacts to a traumatic event, you may be less fearful and better able to cope. Reactions are common for anyone, even Service members and Veterans, or disaster rescue and relief workers, who have been trained to respond to crises.

Here are some common reactions to trauma:

Losing hope for the future

Feeling distant (detached) or losing a sense of concern about others

Being unable to concentrate or make decisions

Feeling jumpy and getting startled easily at sudden noises

Feeling on guard and alert all the time

Having dreams and memories that upset you

Having problems at work or school

Avoiding people, places and things related to the event

You may also experience more physical reactions such as:

Stomach upset and trouble eating

Trouble sleeping and feeling very tired

Pounding heart, rapid breathing, feeling shaky

Sweating

Severe headache if thinking of the event

Not keeping up with exercise, diet, safe sex or-regular health care

Smoking more, using alcohol or drugs more, or eating too much

Having your ongoing medical problems get worse

You may have more emotional troubles such as:

Feeling nervous, helpless, fearful, sad

Feeling shocked, numb, or not able to feel love or joy

Being irritable or having angry outbursts

Getting easily upset or agitated

Blaming yourself or having negative views of oneself or the world

Being unable to trust others, getting into fights, or being trying to control everything

Being withdrawn, feeling rejected, or abandoned

Feeling detached, not wanting intimacy

Recovery From Stress Reactions

Turn to your family and friends when you are ready to talk. They are your personal support system. Recovery is an ongoing gradual process. Don't look to be "cured" all of a sudden or assume that you will forget what happened. Most people will recover from trauma naturally. If your stress reactions are getting in the way of your relationships, work or other important activities, you may want to talk to a counselor or your doctor. Good treatments are available.

Common Problems That Can Occur After a Trauma

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a condition that can develop after you have gone through a life-threatening event. If you have PTSD, you may have trouble keeping yourself from thinking over and over about what happened to you. You may try to avoid people and places that remind you of the trauma. You may feel numb. Lastly, if you have PTSD, you might find that you have trouble relaxing. You may startle easily, and you may feel on guard most of the time.

Depression. Depression involves feeling down or sad more days than not. If you are depressed, you may lose interest in activities that you used to enjoy or find fun. You may feel low in energy and be overly tired. You may feel hopeless or in despair, and you may think that things will never get better. Depression is more likely when you have had losses such as the death of close friends. If you are depressed, at times you might think about hurting yourself. For this reason, getting help for depression is very important.

Self-blame, guilt and shame. Sometimes in trying to make sense of a traumatic event, you may blame yourself. You may think you are to blame for bad things that happened, or for surviving when others didn't. You may feel guilty for what you did or did not do. Remember, we all tend to be our own worst critics.

Suicidal thoughts. Trauma and loss can lead someone who is depressed to think about self-harm. If you have thoughts of suicide, talk to someone. If you think someone you know may be thinking about suicide, ask them. You will NOT put the idea in their head. If you or someone you care about is thinking about suicide:

Call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

If you are a Veteran, or you are concerned about one, call 988 and press 1 to speak with a responder trained to help Veterans. Visit the Veterans Crisis Line.

You can also call a counselor or doctor; or dial 911 for emergency response services (like police or an ambulance).

Anger or aggressive behavior. Trauma is related to anger in many ways. After a trauma, you might think that what happened to you was unfair or unjust. You might not understand why the event happened and why it happened to you. These thoughts can result in intense anger. Anger is a natural and healthy emotion, but strong feelings of anger and aggressive behavior can cause problems with family, friends or co-workers. If you become violent when angry, it makes the situation worse. Violence can lead to injury, and there may be legal outcomes.

Alcohol or drug abuse. Drinking or "self-medicating" with drugs is a common, and unhealthy, way of coping with upsetting events. You may drink too much or use drugs to numb yourself and to try to deal with difficult thoughts, feelings and memories related to the trauma. While using alcohol or drugs may offer a quick solution, it can lead to more problems. If someone close to you begins to lose control of drinking or drug use, try to get them to see a health care provider about managing their drinking or drug use.

Summing It All Up

Right after a trauma, almost every survivor will find it hard to stop thinking about what happened. Stress reactions-such as fear, anxiety, jumpiness, upsetting memories, and efforts to avoid reminders-will gradually decrease over time for most people.

Use your personal support systems, family and friends, when you are ready to talk. Or, be a support for someone you care about who has been through a trauma. Recovery is an ongoing gradual process that takes time. Don't look for a quick "cure" or assume that you will forget what happened. Most people will recover from trauma on their own. If your emotional reactions are getting in the way of your relationships, work or other important activities, you may want to talk to a counselor or your doctor. Good treatments are available.

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Available en Español When you experience a traumatic event, it's common to have an emotional reaction. Such stress reactions are normal and not weakness. Most people recover in time. Learn about stress reactions and problems that occur after trauma. Reading time: minutes All kinds of trauma create stress reactions.

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war and combat
violence and abuse
disaster and terrorism

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War and Combat - PTSD: National Center for PTSD

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Information about the effects of war on military personnel, Veterans, and civilians.

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Post Traumatic stress Disorder is caused by a life threatening event weather its a near death experience or an assault

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PTSD Basics - PTSD: National Center for PTSD

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Find out the basics about PTSD, including how common it is and effective treatments for it.