Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D)
counselling, Crawley and East Grinstead.
Something happened to me, that I find hard deal with, am I suffering with PTSD?
As you know, life has its stresses and strains, but the term ’trauma ’refers to something different. Trauma is a life changing incident such as rape, violence or, domestic violence, serious or life-changing illness, natural disaster, a bad car accident, the sudden death of a loved one, a terrorist incident, combat, torture or physical and sexual abuse. Eleos Counselling has many years of working in Crawley and East Grinstead helping people, not unlike yourself or someone you know, with the effects of trauma.
You may find taking this kind of event in your stride very hard, anyone would. Someone who is experiencing such an event is bound to be shaken up, as a result, you might deny it ever happened. You may find it difficult to sleep or to fall asleep. You may even be plagued by nightmares, you may find yourself spending hours thinking about what happened or else have distressing thoughts and images, which may keep popping into your head. You may perhaps feel upset and depressed, you may possibly start using substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, or street drugs to make you feel better or to help you fall sleep. You could feel upset or depressed or angry or guilty. All these reactions are completely normal and natural.
What is PTSD?
It’s very normal to be shocked, it’s the way we humans deal with horrible events, working them through in our minds until we have closure to then move on. Generally, these unpleasant thoughts pass in a few weeks, but for some they may remain and even get worse. When these feelings go on, for more than a month and when they are causing you real problems, then there is a high probability you have, what is known, as post-traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD).
How common is PTSD?
About half of us (1in2) will experience a trauma in our life ,whether or not you develop PTSD like symptoms depends largely on the sort of trauma you have suffered. In a third of all cases there are lasting problems and 5 to 10% of us are likely to suffer from PTSD at some stage during our lifetime.
Some of the symptoms trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Some of the symptoms that one can exhibit
- Loss of sexual desire
- Detachment/disassociation
- Sleeplessness/ night terrors/ nightmares
- Depression
- Flashbacks
- Night sweats
- Intrusive thoughts
- Anxiety
How can counselling / psychotherapy help me get over my trauma?
At Eleos Counselling, I do not assume that all post-traumatic reactions are the same. Trauma is seen as part of the process toward health and recovery. Even when the symptoms persist beyond their usefulness, symptoms being understood to be part of the self supporting strategy one develops to cope with the stress of a life changing event. I believe that trauma, forces people cut new deals for themselves, the work in therapy, involves choice and responsibility, Individual meaning. Personal relevance of experience is therefore central in trauma recovery.