| Here I will tell you about PTSD, Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder, and how I was diagnosed as having Severe
PTSD almost exactly 30 years after serving my country in the Vietnam
War. Many, including combat veterans, will say, what is PTSD? Some
will be open minded and accepting. Others will flatly deny there is
anything like PTSD. Even though I thought I was a person with an
open mind and accepting of similar emotional disabilities, I had a
hard time accepting that PTSD was actually real and that I had it.
What is PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
is a type of anxiety problem. It can happen after your life
is threatened or you see a traumatic event. Usually, the
event makes you feel very afraid or helpless. Some examples
of the events are war, rape, or a severe car crash.
American Family Physician WebsitePosttraumatic Stress
Disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur
following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening
events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist
incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults
like rape. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the
experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have
difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and
these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to
significantly impair the person's daily life.
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/facts/general/fs_what_is_ptsd.html
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a complex health condition
that can develop in response to a traumatic experience – a
life-threatening or extremely distressing situation that
causes a person to feel intense fear, horror or a sense of
helplessness. PTSD can cause severe problems at home or at
work. Anyone can develop PTSD – men, women, children, young
and old alike.
http://www.ptsdalliance.org/home2.html
Post traumatic Stress reactions start with a traumatic
stressor "outside the range of usual human experience and
that would be markedly distressing to anyone," according to
the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic And
Statistical Manual, III-R.
http://www.patiencepress.com/samples/ptg1.pdf
|
Anyone can get PTSD, especially combat veterans. While someone
may get PTSD from being in a life threatening event, such as a bad
car wreck, for a combat veteran, it can be like having a bad car
wreck almost everyday. If you still have doubts or don't understand
PTSD, type PTSD into a search engine such as
Google. You will most likely
find almost a million results to links with information about PTSD. |