Anyone know anything about PTSD?

[catnapper]

PTSD is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

We just came back from the doctor (psychiatrist) and he's been diagnosed with it in regards to all the stuff going on at work. We're both floored. We knew he was reacting badly to the stuff they're putting him through, but never thought he was regarding it THAT badly.

The doctor also signed him out of work for another month. He now is out of work on disability for another 30 days.

I think by the time he figures out what's going on with his job, I'm going to be traumatized too! This has been an emotional roller coaster with everything.

[K9karen]

*Raises Hand*
Yes....since my wrist was almost bitten off.
I can't (legally) go into more detail right now but it's pretty awful and nothing helps (me at least). Not unless I lose my memory.

[Catty1]

The link has seven pages of material...here is a summary.

http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraum...er/article.htm

PTSD At A Glance

* Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an emotional illness that was first formally diagnosed in soldiers and war veterans and is caused by terribly frightening, life-threatening, or otherwise highly unsafe experiences.
* PTSD symptom types include re-experiencing the trauma, avoidance, and hyperarousal.
* PTSD has a lifetime prevalence of seven up to 30%, with about 5 million people suffering from the illness in any one year. Girls, women, and ethnic minorities tend to develop PTSD more than boys, men, and Caucasians.
* Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) usually results from prolonged exposure to traumatic event(s) and is characterized by long-lasting problems that affect many aspects of emotional and social functioning.
* Symptoms of C-PTSD include problems regulating feelings, dissociation or depersonalization; persistent depressive feelings, seeing the perpetrator of trauma as all-powerful, preoccupation with the perpetrator, and a severe change in what gives the sufferer meaning.
* Untreated PTSD can have devastating, far-reaching consequences for sufferers' medical and emotional functioning and relationships, their families, and for society. Children with PTSD can experience significantly negative effects on their social and emotional development, as well as their ability to learn.
* Although almost any event that is life-threatening or that severely compromises the emotional well-being of an individual may cause PTSD, such events usually include experiencing or witnessing a severe accident or physical injury, getting a frightening medical diagnosis, being the victim of a crime or torture, exposure to combat, disaster or terrorist attack, enduring any form of abuse, or involvement in civil conflict.
* Issues that tend to put people at higher risk for developing PTSD include female gender, minority ethnicity, increased duration or severity of, as well as exposure to, the trauma experienced, having an emotional condition prior to the event, and having little social support. Risk factors for children and adolescents also include having any learning disability or experiencing violence in the home.
* Disaster preparedness training may be a protective factor for PTSD.
* Medicines that treat depression (for example, serotonergic antidepressants or SSRIs), decrease the heart rate (for example, propranolol) or increase the action of other body chemicals (for example, hydrocortisol) are thought to be effective tools in the prevention of PTSD when given in the days immediately after an individual experiences a traumatic event.
* Individuals who wonder if they may be suffering form PTSD may benefit from taking a self-test as they consider meeting with a practitioner. Professionals may used a clinical interview in either adults, children, or adolescents, or one of a number of structured tests with children or adolescents to assess for the presence of this illness.
* Diagnosing PTSD can present a challenge for professionals since sufferers often come for evaluation of something that seems to be unrelated to that illness at first. Those symptoms tend to be physical complaints, depression, or substance abuse. Also, PTSD often co-occurs with manic depression, eating disorders, or other anxiety disorders.
* Challenges for assessment of PTSD in children and adolescents include adult caretakers' tendency to be unaware of the extent of the young person's symptoms and the tendency for children and teens to express symptoms of the illness in ways that are quite different from adults.
* Treatments for PTSD usually include psychological and medical treatments. Education about the illness, helping the individual talk about the trauma directly, exploration and modification of inaccurate ways of thinking about it, and teaching the person ways to manage symptoms and are the usual techniques used in psychotherapy. Family and couples' counseling, parenting classes, and education about conflict resolution are other useful psychotherapeutic interventions.
* Directly addressing the sleep problems that are associated with PTSD has been found to help alleviate those problems, thereby decreasing the symptoms of PTSD in general.
* Medications that are usually used to help PTSD sufferers include serotonergic antidepressants (SSRIs) and medicines that help decrease the physical symptoms associated with illness. Other potentially helpful medications for managing PTSD include mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Tranquilizers have been associated with withdrawal symptoms and other problems and have not been found to be significantly effective for helping individuals with PTSD.
* Some ways that are often suggested for PTSD patients to cope with this illness include learning more about the illness, talking to others for support, using relaxation techniques, participating in treatment, increasing positive lifestyle practices, and minimizing negative lifestyle practices.

Non-military online support (one has a fee - it's from the UK, but may not be listed here)

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...ec=group&slk=8

http://www.ptsduk.co.uk/

http://www.support4hope.com/ptsd/

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/clients/sub.../ptsd_families This links to a booklet for families of someone who has PTSD.

[Scooter's Mom]

On December 2, 1994 my apartment burned down. I had (at the time) 16 pets... 3 kitties, a lovebird, 2 bunnies, 2 gerbils and the rest were all hamsters and mice. The only pleasant surprise was the beautiful neighbor lady (Sherri) who came into my burning building and rescued Twinkie and Cassie (who are now Katjaye's kitties). I had to save Sasha kitty, she didn't like people... but I managed to get her out and into a waiting pet carrier. I went back in for my lovebird (people were trying to hold me back) and did save her... singed my hair in the process. The neighbors would not let me back in for the rest of my beloved critters. (They all survived that tragic day, somehow.)

After that day, I suffered from PTSD. There were many different ways it took shape, but one was - I could not leave my house for awhile. If I managed to leave and heard sirens, we went home. I hid in the closet during storms; started watching the weather channel 24 hrs a day. (It was drizzling/sprinkling when the fire happened.) There were MANY other things...

It took me years to get past it. Once I moved to Phoenix, I saw a therapist and they helped.

[moosmom]

I was diagnosed with it 3 years ago after I found my father's body in 1997. I still have horrible nightmares now and again and take Seroquel for sleep. PTSD is awful and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I'd wake up, heart pounding, sweats, shortness of breath. I don't know if it ever truly goes away. It's 11 years since his death and I still have them periodically. Definitely not fun.

[shepgirl]

Anything traumatic to someone will trigger it. I've suffered from it for years from a horrible accident. No, it never does go away, don't think so anyway, but keeping busy and talking myself out of it has helped tremendously in my case. The nightmares do keep coming back and so do the flashbacks....I just keep telling myself it feels horrible but it can't hurt me unless I let it.