What is Trauma?
Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, assault, or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea.
What is PTSD?
People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings related to their experience that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may feel sadness, fear or anger; and they may feel detached or estranged from other people.
What is c-PTSD?
Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD, sometimes abbreviated to c-PTSD or CPTSD) is a condition where you experience some symptoms of PTSD along with some additional symptoms, such as: difficulty controlling your emotions. feeling very angry or distrustful towards the world.
When to Seek Treatment
Each of these conditions amount to more than “feeling” a certain way and should be taken seriously as it relates to an individual’s mental well being. Mental health impacts physical health. Just as you would see a physician when you have the flu, individuals who have experienced trauma should consult with a mental health professional.
Treatment Plans
There are different treatment plans such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms, primarily depression and anxiety disorders.
EMDR is another form of therapy. It can be useful in treating trauma patients. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a form of psychotherapy in which the person being treated is asked to recall distressing images. The therapist then directs the patient in one type of bilateral stimulation, such as side-to-side eye movement or tapping either side of the body.
