Welcome back bloggers to another mental health Thursday post! I hope all of you have been enjoying my mental health Thursday post, raising awareness on mental health and making it less of an omen & giving understanding. I am not sure if any of you have heard of PTSD, but if you have, you probably have commonly heard war veterans speak on it — but it isn’t exclusively happening to just war veterans but also the general population as well. I know someone personally who has PTSD, hell, I probably know more than a couple of people and each of them handle it differently and have different reasons as to why they have it. I won’t discuss their stories because that is private information but if anyone wants to leave in the comments or email me their own experience, that is fine, otherwise I don’t expect people to be as open about their experiences because it becomes really personal.
Now keep in mind, all my information about PTSD does NOT mean that it is the same for everyone, everyone is an individual case so treat my answers as such. If you know someone who has PTSD, I am either hoping this will help give you insight, possible understanding and perhaps help you have a better handle on things because I dated someone who allegedly had PTSD (wasn’t brought to my attention until the break up) and the way they explained it, they couldn’t but I could tell something wasn’t right at the time with this person and while they never did get a diagnosis; they figured they did enough research to narrow it down to PTSD — I wish I could have known sooner because maybe it wouldn’t have been too late to look into handling a relationship with someone with possible PTSD but with that being said, many spouses who live with someone with this condition, it can sometimes be stressful and very exhausting if you don’t understand or if you are feeling abandoned, it is never easy to put your foot into someone else’s shoes if you have never experienced what they have experienced and while we sympathize with them, it doesn’t mean we have a hold on the issue at hand – because sometimes we don’t, sometimes we find ourselves thinking we ‘got it’ just to find out we we’re way wrong, and that’s okay because we are only human.
- Failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event
Not everyone with PTSD has gone through a painful event – losing a loved one can also cause this to happen.
- Flashbacks/reliving the event (nightmares, etc)
- scary thoughts
- Avoiding places, or situations that remind you of the event
- Might have more negative beliefs or feelings
- hyperarousal
- feelings of hopelessness, shame or dispair
- possible drinking or drug issues
- employment issues may occur
- relationship issues may occur
- depression
- anxiety
- many of the symptoms depending on the severity could lead to suicide..
- Might experience bed wetting habits
- Forgetting how to or being unable to talk
- Acting out the event during playtime
- Could be unusually clingy to a parent or other adult
- Trouble sleeping
- Act out the event through drawings
- Could become more irritable or aggressive
- Might have problems with friends, or school work
- might try to avoid going to school
- depression as they get older
- anxiety
- withdrawal or possible reckless behavior as they get older
PTSD can happen at any age!
- war veterans
- sexual abuse
- physical abuse
- loss of a loved one
- witnessing a dangerous event happen to a loved one
- childhood trauma
- having a history of mental illness
- having little to no social support after the event
- Stress after the event can make PTSD more likely
With this being said, PTSD can occur soon after the event or take months to years before it triggers & it can come and go. Again, everyone is different.
- Psychotherapy for PTSD
- Medications
The ONE thing is for sure, we always want to push people to ask for help, but sometimes that person doesn’t always realize they have an actual issue and some people live in denial. You can offer help, but doesn’t mean they will take it. I once told somebody: “getting help seems easy to do coming from people from the outside looking in, but for me, it is letting go of my pride, being vulnerable and accepting it and that’s just not easy to do” so take that how you will, but in knowing my own situation, my anxiety and how it hinders me sometimes – that’s how I feel about things, hints why I have never sought out help BUT don’t do as I do, do what works best for you, and your circumstances because help is important in order to better handle things sometimes. I will mention, my anxiety is A LOT better than where it used to be but it probably would have saved me a whole hell of lot more to seek help back when. It’s never too late to ask for help or seek a professional, so don’t give up on yourself.
P.S I will always be honest with my readers about how I handled my own mental health issues and break downs, etc and I will be the FIRST person to say, I don’t seek professional help for things I go through, because I just deal with it & sometimes I pay a hell of a lot of consequences and sometimes I come out okay, but regardless, my pride and stubbornness gets the best of me, and that’s why I am a bad example , lol
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