PTSD And Trauma:
How To Feel Safe Again

Any traumatic situation, whether directly experienced or witnessed, can instill fear. Fear is a natural biological “fight-or-flight” response meant to protect you from harm or a perceived danger. There are a variety of ways trauma can impact our reactions. For many there are symptoms that can begin after a traumatic experience. These symptoms can lead to Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What Are the Symptoms of PTSD?

PTSD is a condition that can happen to anyone, at any age after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. According to the National Center for PTSD, PTSD can develop in about 7 or 8 out of 100 people with higher rates reported among women. To a survivor of trauma, PTSD can replace feelings of safety with a sense of fear and anxiety. The world goes from feeling safe to unsafe after the event.

Like anxiety disorders, PTSD may develop due to a complex mix of factors, including stressful experiences, an inherited family history of anxiety and depression, inherent temperament, and/or the brain’s ability to regulate chemicals and hormones released by the body when responding to stress. PTSD can change thoughts of “will something bad happen” to “when will something bad happen”.

The symptoms of PTSD manifest in four types of ways; grouped as intrusive memories, negative changes in thoughts and mood, changes in physical and emotional reactions, and avoidance. Symptoms of PTSD include re-experiencing trauma in varying forms, such as flashbacks, recurring distressing memories, or upsetting nightmares. This may contribute to the feeling of hopelessness, concentration and memory problems, detachment from family and friends, and emotional numbness.

When you are not feeling safe you may find yourself also feeling insecure, especially in relationships. The physically and emotionally reactive symptoms may be more easily recognized as they are slightly more obvious; self-destructive behaviors, irritability, angry outbursts, and being constantly on guard/hypervigilant. PTSD may lead you to avoid talking or thinking about the traumatic experience, avoid certain places or activities, and avoid people associated with the trauma, as a way of shutting yourself down from any painful reminders.

Therapy and PTSD

If your trauma persistently stays with you, symptoms of PTSD can vary in types and intensity. For example, if you had a severe car accident involving a red car any red car you come across can bring back vivid memories of your near-fatal accident. Or thunder could cause you to relive your combat experiences. These symptoms can profoundly affect your relationships, work, and interfere with your normal functioning.

If you experience these intrusive symptoms for more than a month, it may be beneficial to see a professional. You deserve to find peace again and move forward. Seeking early treatment can be the right decision, rather than staying in the past and to be completely consumed by it.

Therapy can help to decrease the intrusive symptoms of PTSD and allow you to begin to live your life the way you want to. PTSD can feel isolating though you are not alone, counseling can help.

Reclaiming Control and Establishing Safety with CCS

If a traumatic event is leaving you feeling unsafe, so much so, that it becomes difficult for you to get back to your regular life, it can be important to seek help from a licensed professional. Trauma symptoms can cause you to live with fear, anxiety and the constant expectation of danger. This can be difficult to manage on your own. Fortunately, there are effective treatments available to decrease and eliminate the negative thoughts and feelings brought on by trauma.

A traumatizing experience complicated by PTSD can leave you feeling stuck. Feeling unsafe may keep you from taking the first step to help yourself. Rather than allowing trauma to be in control, reach out for the help you deserve. Getting treatment for PTSD can help you to fight back and regain your sense of control over the powerful hold of trauma.

Feel safe again. Get help from a trauma therapist independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Pinehurst, NC. Call CCS– Pinehurst today to schedule an appointment.

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