POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Everyone is susceptible to traumatic experiences. Trauma always involves the loss of: control, safety, security, health, relationship, job, home, etc. It may feel as if death has occurred or is about to occur. The effects of trauma are often devastating and long-lasting.
Trauma is defined as an event so overwhelming and unexpected that we are not able to fully cope, understand, or process the experience. The impact of the traumatic event shocks and disorients us in a way that the mind cannot fully comprehend in the moment. Therefore, the trauma is repressed in the unconscious mind. The feelings caused by the trauma are preserved, but do not go away. They return to consciousness in the form of persistent thoughts, feelings, images, flashbacks, and dreams.
Due to the unexpected and shocking nature of traumatic events, it is actually adaptive for the mind to be prepared for the possible recurrence of trauma. We do not want to be “caught off-guard” again and so symptoms such as hypervigilance, flashbacks
and avoidance are actually normal and healthy responses. Yet, they represent the core symptoms of PTSD.
Treatment involves understanding and joining with the patient’s feelings so that they are validated and are not alone with their traumatic experience. The patient's symptoms must be understood, accepted, and appreciated as adaptive and healthy responses to the trauma.
Therapists need to be attuned to the patient in order to introduce new coping skills at the appropriate time. Providing reassurance and hope are necessary to help patients regain a sense of normalcy, avoid self-blame, and – in time - be able to grow from the experience and gain perspective on the meaning of the traumatic event in their lives.
