The Truth About PTSD

How To View PTSD Awareness

“Greater understanding and awareness of PTSD will help Veterans and others recognize symptoms,

and seek and obtain needed care.”

– Dr. Paula P. Schnurr, Executive Director of the National Center for PTSD

Post-traumatic Stress can occur following a life-threatening event like military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape. … People who suffer from PTSD often suffer from nightmares, flashbacks, difficulty sleeping, and feeling emotionally numb.

Members of the military exposed to war/combat and other groups at high risk for trauma exposure are at risk for developing PTSD. Among veterans returning from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, PTSD and mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) are often linked and their symptoms may overlap.

The physical changes that take place in the body and brain following trauma are beginning to be understood, but most treatments for these changes are still experimental. Generally, PTSD is treated as a mental or emotional disorder with medication and psychotherapy. The goal of this treatment is to make it possible for the sufferer to “get by.” One of the interesting and complicated difficulties of PTSD is that no one treatment works for everyone.

Each person, it seems, is a clean slate that doctors and therapists will throw various treatments at until something sticks. This can be one of the most frustrating aspects of PTSD for both the sufferer and those who care for them. While the science of this is still evolving, one thing we do know is that PTSD is very common.

This month is PTSD Awareness month. For the duration of June, we want to educate our audience every week on how to view, listen, and take steps to understand PTSD in its entirety.