PORTRAITS James woke suddenly in the middle of the night. His heart was pounding in his chest and his sheets were tangled around him. His nightmare had seemed so real that at first he couldn’t figure out where he was. His accident has occurred years ago, but lately he had been having frequent dreams about it. Ali had been in several bad relationships throughout college- usually with older men. She is beginning to realize that her desperate need for affection from men comes from the time she watched her father walk out on her mother. Her memory of that night and the pain she felt hasn’t faded a bit. DEFINITIONS & KEY THOUGHTS Trauma is considered to be any situation that shakes one to the core and is beyond their control. Examples of trauma include childhood abuse, rape, abortion, a car accident, domestic violence, or many other types of events. Whatever the situation may be, a trauma could ultimately lead to mental disorders or even suicide. Recovery from a trauma is … [Read more...]
What Are the Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress?
Following a traumatic event, some people experience Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS). PTS is not Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The latter occurs when an individual experiences persistent and significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress for a minimum of one month. It’s easy to confuse PTS and PTSD because of the similar names, and there is considerable overlap in the symptoms between the two conditions. Both are associated with feeling fearful and/or nervous, avoiding the activity or place associated with the traumatic event, and nightmares. However, there are significant differences in symptom intensity, duration, and treatment. PTS is a common and often adaptive response to experiencing a traumatic or stressful event, such as a car accident or the more unusual events of military combat or kidnapping. Nearly everyone who faces a scary situation will display at least a few signs of PTS because the brain is hard-wired to tell the body to tense the muscles, breathe faster and … [Read more...]