Understanding PTSD Symptoms

Mental health disorders can make it hard to live a normal life. Symptoms can discourage you from leaving your house or cause you to isolate yourself from your friends and loved ones. Conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can cause avoidant behavior and disruptive symptoms. Understanding PTSD symptoms also helps you know when you or a loved one needs to reach out for help, as early treatment is the key to managing PTSD successfully.

Anyone who witnesses or experiences a traumatizing or violent event can develop symptoms of PTSD. Understanding PTSD symptoms is important because 10% of men and 20% of women who are exposed to or directly experience a traumatic event develop PTSD. A somatic experiencing therapy program in NJ is an evidence-based treatment that can help you cope with symptoms and triggers. 

What is PTSD?

PTSD is a chronic mental health disorder that occurs when you experience symptoms that impact your daily life for one month or longer after you are exposed to trauma. While anyone who witnesses or lives through a traumatizing event can ultimately develop PTSD, certain factors can increase your chances of developing PTSD. The type of trauma you experience can increase your risk of developing PTSD, but understanding PTSD symptoms is important to ensure that you are correctly diagnosed. The more severe or violent the traumatizing event is, the more likely you are to develop PTSD.

PTSD is especially common among people who have:

• Served in the military
• Worked as a police officer or emergency responder
• Experienced a sexual assault
• Experience trauma during childhood
• Have experienced multiple traumas

Since physical and mental symptoms of PTSD may not occur for a prolonged period of time after the initial trauma, it is important to find treatment immediately when you begin to experience symptoms. Victory Bay Recovery Center provides outpatient mental health programs alongside PTSD treatment to ensure recovery  

Understanding PTSD Symptoms

Physical and mental symptoms of PTSD can include:

• Experiencing flashbacks involving the traumatizing event
• Having nightmares about the traumatizing event
• Avoiding people, places, and things that remind you of the initial trauma
• Experiencing anxiety when thinking about the traumatizing event

Symptoms can worsen until you receive treatment because PTSD is a progressive condition. Untreated PTSD can cause severe anxiety and panic attacks, especially when you are exposed to triggers. Triggers are people, places, and things that remind you of the traumatizing event. Over time, PTSD symptoms can make it difficult to manage your daily responsibilities. Understanding PTSD symptoms is important because many times PTSD can lead to intense feelings of loneliness and isolation, which increases your risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings, which in these cases you should enter into our anxiety treatment program.

PTSD treatment includes both evidence-based and holistic treatments. Individual counseling can offer you a discrete and supportive place to share troubling thoughts and feelings. Medications can also help improve your sleep, which can improve your overall mood and increase your energy levels, while family and group therapy can help improve your communication skills.  

Finding PTSD Treatment Today

PTSD can make you feel alone, cornered, and overwhelmed. When you are struggling with PTSD, your day-to-day life can feel like a constant struggle. Understanding PTSD symptoms can help you know when you need to reach out for help. Completing treatment is the best way you can recover from PTSD and regain control over your life. Call us today at [Direct] to find out more about our programs.