![]() It is vital that people who have experienced trauma or are experiencing symptoms of PTSD can access quality, professional help. Processing trauma – Talking about your trauma can really help Trauma and PTSD often involve and are present alongside anxiety, depression, grief, relationship issues, alcohol or drug abuse and self-medication, so it might be hard to spot among other symptoms. This hesitation to reach out or seek support may be a result of experiencing trauma too – survivors of complex trauma may already have experiences and concerns with speaking out safely, being believed, being labelled negatively or might wish to actively avoid bringing up the traumatic event to save discomfort. This makes it quite common, although many people who struggle with these symptoms might not feel initially comfortable to seek professional help. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects about 8% of women and 5% of men in the Australian population. Triggers- seemingly inane stimuli in your everyday environment that your brain may associate with threat as a result- can cause unwanted, intrusive and destabilising symptoms, even if no ‘real’ threat is actually present. PTSD tends to feel incredibly intrusive and constant, and tends to follow a very seriously distressing event- someone who lived through bushfires, a war zone, or a survivor of rape might sustain the symptoms of a traumatic response in their day to day life. Left unprocessed, or processed in a distorted way, traumatic responses (psychological and physical) can continue long after the traumatic incident has subsided. When this occurs, you might be said to be experiencing a prolonged and chronic stress response called Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. You may continue to feel terrified, hypervigilant, unsafe, dissociated or depressed, even in the absence of the actual threat. ![]() PTSD responses are reactions that make protective sense to the time of the traumatic event, but become destructive or dysfunctional when they persist after the trauma.Īfter experiencing a traumatic event, this fear response may become chronic, persistent and stay with you long term. ![]() Our evolutionary response options of fight, flight or freeze are activated to protect us and help us cope in a situation outside of our control.Ī simple fear response (say, in response to a spider found in your car) peaks quickly and dissipates quickly thereafter. When you are traumatised, your body and your mind ignite a very powerful fear response: think of sweaty palms, dilated pupils, a racing heart, brain freeze and restlessness.
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