PTSD & Trauma
When you’ve gone through something traumatic, it can seem like you’ll never feel safe again. But whether the trauma happened yesterday or years ago, you can find a way to heal, let go of painful memories, and move on.
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Mental Health
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PTSD & Trauma
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PTSD & Trauma FAQs
What are PTSD treatments?
Treatments for PTSD include:
- Medication, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to treat depression or anxiety symptoms.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which involves examining the ties between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and addressing distorted thinking patterns.
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which uses eye movements to process traumatic memories.
What are PTSD symptoms in women?
The symptoms of PTSD may differ slightly in women than men. Women are more likely to feel emotionally numb, depressed, and anxious. They may also be more easily startled and use avoidant behavior to cope with anxiety. PTSD symptoms also tend to last longer in women. However, women are less likely to have issues with substance abuse.
What are the signs of PTSD?
Different people may experience different symptoms of PTSD. Common signs of post-traumatic stress disorder include intrusive flashbacks or nightmares about the traumatic event; the urge to avoid things that remind you of the event, such as certain locations or people; feelings of detachment or numbness; hyperarousal, or feeling tense, jumpy, irritable, and always on the lookout for danger; negative moods and thoughts, such as feeling hopeless, lonely, guilty, or distrustful; and reduced focus or impaired memory.
What’s the difference between PTSD and trauma?
Trauma can follow an event that causes extremely high levels of stress such as living through a natural disaster, witnessing a violent incident, or being involved in a car accident. But gradually, the stress of the trauma will ease as your nervous system returns to normal. With PTSD, however, your nervous system doesn’t return to normal following the traumatic event. Your mind and body seem “stuck” in that moment of past trauma and your symptoms affect your ability to function on a daily basis.
What are the types of trauma?
Trauma can take on several forms:
- Acute trauma is the distress you feel after a single or short incident, such as a car accident.
- Chronic trauma is the result of repeated incidents, such as physical or sexual abuse.
- Complex trauma tends to be the result of multiple incidents of trauma throughout childhood and can negatively affect your relationships and self-image.
- Secondary trauma is the result of witnessing or hearing about someone else’s traumatic event.