Insight on Anxiety Disorder – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder which may occur after one has gone through extreme emotional stress either in the case of an injury or loss of a person deeply attached to the patient. The genes, family settings as well as the emotions, play a very important role and past emotional events may also add up to the risk of post traumatic stress disorder in an individual. With this type of disorder, the body’s response to any stress, changes drastically. In normal situation, the body recovers after the stress has passed off.

The stress hormones and chemicals which the body releases at the time of stressful events return back to its normal level. In some cases when the person suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, the body keeps on releasing the stress chemicals and hormones which can occur at any stage of life.

It can occur due to an assault, natural disaster, domestic violence, or accident of any kind, rape, terrorist attack and even in case of war. Diagnosis of this disorder is based on the report of history and the result of a psychological event that has taken place wherein the health care provider gets to know about the symptoms and other related details like work experience, education and background of the person suffering from this disorder.


Though some of the traumatic events do cause distress, not all traumatic events are symptoms of PTSD. Individuals could talk about their feelings with family members, friends or relative should they encounter any symptoms which may not improve or cause any kind of distress and contact health care professional to eliminate this disorder at the earliest.

They could also get engaged in active participation in the treatment, following the instructions provided by the health care personnel, accept support from others, if any, exercise and maintain a healthy diet, Moreover they should ensure to avoid consumption of alcohol or drug which can aggravate this ailment further. The PTSD symptoms are of three types namely acute stress disorder, wherein the disorder occurs within four weeks of the event with the symptoms lasting for three months or less.

The second is Delayed onset PTSD where the symptoms tends to appear six months after the event and the third type is Chronic PTSD when the symptoms last for over three months. Besides this, other disorders that may accompany this ailment are depression, anxiety, or alcohol and drug abuse. The treatments for PTSD are in the various forms of psychotherapy which can be of immense help to the victim. CBT or Cognitive behavioral therapy helps the person to understand some techniques which can enable them to relax and restrain any form of anxiety.

Exposure therapy enables a systematic exposure which may involve someone related to the traumatic incident, thereby reducing the responses of fear under the guidance of a trained therapist. We also have the EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing which involves presentation of various visuals and stimuli which may lead to release of emotional turmoil and free the person of all mental blockages occurred during the event. Besides this, treatment for PTSD patients involves talk therapy or counseling, medicine or at times it may involve both.