Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Witnessing or experiencing something traumatic can affect the portion of the brain responsible for managing your acute stress response, or your “fight-or-flight” response. When the trauma, or psychological wound, is severe enough, it can “loop” that feeling of acute stress. Unaddressed, this stress becomes a chronic burden on people affected by trauma.

In some cases, recurring stressors – such as being a firefighter or paramedic – can wear down a person’s resilience and make them more likely to develop PTSD. In other cases, one particularly severe or shocking event can trigger PTSD. Individual, uncontrollable factors such as personal susceptibility and genes also play a role.

Symptoms of PTSD can vary from person to person. Common signs include avoidance, hypersensitivity, unwanted/intrusive thoughts and memories, and mood changes (depression/irritability). Like a spectrum, PTSD symptoms can differ greatly in severity.

Young woman consoling her husband with a hug while sitting together on their bed at home

What is a Traumatic Experience?

There are no hardline qualifiers for what makes a traumatic experience. The closest definition would be something far outside of the experienced norm, which is entirely subjective.

Not all distressing events cause lasting trauma. PTSD occurs in about half of the victims of war, and about one in ten car accident survivors, for example. But there is no telling when or why a traumatic experience results in symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Types of Post-Traumatic Stress

Post-traumatic stress implies that the event left an unhealed psychological wound that continues to inflict emotional pain months, and even years later.

When PTSD doesn’t develop, stress levels return to normal after some time. The traumatic event stays in the past, and a person continues to live their life without symptoms of unexplained anxiety or unwanted intrusive memories.

But when PTSD develops, it can take on different forms

Acute Stress Disorder

Acute stress disorder is a prolonged and severe stress reaction to a traumatic event. Acute stress disorders pass with time, but if left unaddressed could develop into PTSD. An acute stress disorder occurs within days of the traumatic event and can be addressed with therapy.

Dissociative PTSD

Dissociative PTSD happens when the brain’s reaction to PTSD is to depersonalize or detach from the memory. In these cases, it feels like the trauma happened to someone else entirely.

Uncomplicated PTSD

Uncomplicated PTSD is a case of PTSD with no co-occurring mental health issues, where a person’s condition and symptoms fit the criteria for PTSD alone.

Complex PTSD

Complex PTSD is the result of multiple different, concurrent, or recurring stressful events, such as traumas lasting multiple years rather than a single traumatic event. Complex PTSD can be more difficult to treat, and recovery takes much longer, because it’s about overcoming more than one event or experience.

Co-Morbid PTSD

Co-morbid PTSD is diagnosed when a person’s PTSD is coupled with co-occurring disorders such as social anxiety, OCD, depression, or a substance use disorder.

PTSD Treatment at Resolutions

Treatment for trauma-related stress disorders can be long and varied. An outpatient treatment plan at Resolutions combines talk therapy with trauma-specific treatment modalities, such as brainspotting and EMDR, to help reduce reactivity and better process the traumatic event.

Co-morbid PTSD and complex PTSD can take longer to treat, requiring a higher level of care, a more intensive and modular treatment plan, and a focus on long-term familial and social support.