PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder, which occurs in people after they have experienced a particularly traumatic event like war, violent physical/sexual/verbal assault, in addition to accidents. Symptoms include depression, anxiety, nightmares, paranoia, insomnia, disturbing thoughts, and much more. Many people recover from PTSD after a few days/weeks/months. For others, the recovery could be a year or longer. PTSD is highly treatable, but due to the lack of knowledge as well as the stigma to seeking mental help, many ignore it and suffer through it.
5 FACTS ABOUT PTSD from the National Center for PTSD https://www.ptsd.va.gov/:
- 8% of the population will experience PTSD in their lifetime.
- Women are twice as likely to suffer from PTSD than men from a sexual assault/ traumatic event.
- There are two types of trauma ranging in severity of the causes and triggers; Big T: Life-threatening trauma/situation; Small T: Non-life threatening, disturbing event.
- Trembling and shivers are a normal release from the body after experiencing a traumatic/stressful event
- PTSD can be because one heard or witnessed someone else going through a traumatic event.
To learn more about PTSD from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), click here.
