How to Rebuild Relationships when Suffering with PTSD

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) takes its toll on your emotional health, and also your relationship wellness. Trauma survivors often have trouble maintaining or establishing intimate and family relationships or close friendships, as PTSD can interfere with your ability to trust, communicate, solve problems, be assertive or achieve emotional closeness. We humans were made to be together and in relationships with one another, so this outcome of PTSD can further damage your wellbeing, and begin a negative cycle.

 

When you survive a trauma, you can experience a great deal of emotional and physical pain, be it from the trauma itself or the emotional trauma afterwards. Not only does this impact you as the victim, but also the loved ones that surround you. You might not be interested in anything social or sexual, you may feel distant from others, or you may be numb to what’s going on around you. You may experience problems relaxing, socialising or being intimate without being tense or demanding, because you’re often in a state of irritation, anxiety, worry, nervousness or distrust. Plus, avoiding reminders of the trauma, reliving painful memories and struggling with the emotions that come out of them can interfere with your ability to concentrate, listen and make decisions.

 

All of the above emotional and mental problems mean that PTSD survivors and their loved ones often go through problems that aren’t resolved for a long time, as your friends and family struggle to communicate with you, and feel it’s impossible to work as a team. They might be hurt, alienated or discouraged by your lack of progress, or even feel angry and distant towards you because of how you’ve been acting. Then, if the PTSD is interfering with your sleep patterns, your partner may also suffer from a lack of sleep and, as a result, the emotional problems grow. In fact, living with someone with PTSD can cause the partner to experience vicarious or secondary traumatisation, which is similar to having PTSD.

 

PTSD is caused by a number of traumatic events, including childhood sexual and physical abuse, rape, domestic violence, combat, terrorism, genocide, torture, kidnapping, and being a prisoner of war. Understandably, survivors often report feeling a lasting sense of terror, horror, vulnerability, and betrayal that interferes with relationships. This means that you can be resistant to let down your guard and be emotionally or sexually intimate with another person, even if you feel a strong bond of love or friendship towards that person.

 

So how can you let down your PTSD guard, and create and maintain successful intimate relationships?

 

1. Establish a personal support network: You need a strong team of professionals around you to help you cope with the PTSD while you maintain or rebuild relationships with family and friends. However, the support network can’t do the job for you; you need dedication, perseverance, hard work, and commitment to get your relationship wellness back on track.

 

2. Create a safe environment in which to share your feelings: You and whomever you’re building a relationship with need to be able to sharing feelings honestly and openly. This should be done with an attitude of respect and compassion. When sitting down to discuss your relationship or the PTSD, it may be helpful to lay down these ground rules, in order to set the tone and ensure everyone is on the same page.

 

3. Work on yourself: Recovering from the emotional trauma of PTSD can be a lengthy process, and will take more that just a few conversations. You need to continually strengthen your relationship skills, with particular regard to cooperation, problem-solving and communication.

 

4. Have fun: Relationships aren’t all about feelings and deep chats; they’re also about enjoying life together. Make sure that you make a special effort to include playfulness, spontaneity, relaxation, and mutual enjoyment in the relationship, and the rest will come out of that.

Categories: Advice, emotional, emotional trauma, nbsp, ptsd, rebuild relationships, relationship, relationship wellness, Relationships, support network

Could You or Someone You Love Be Experiencing PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become an increasing mental health concern over recent years. Unlike chronic stress, which can develop from a number of lifestyle factors, PTSD is caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. The anxiety disorder affects your wellness after you’ve gone through military combat, a serious road accident, a terrorist attack, a natural disaster (such as severe floods, earthquakes or tsunamis), being held hostage, witnessing violent deaths or a violent personal assault, such as sexual assault, mugging or robbery.

 

It’s not hard to see how such events might affect your sense of wellbeing, and this is why up to 30% of those who go through traumatic events experience PTSD symptoms. These can develop immediately following the event, or can come on later, whether that’s in a few weeks, months or even years. The major difference to note is that PTSD develops in any situation where you feel extreme fear, horror or helplessness, where as situations that are simply upsetting – such as divorce, job loss or failing exams – do not bring on PTSD symptoms. You may find that your symptoms are less noticeable for long periods, which is known as symptom remission, but these periods are often followed by an increase in symptoms. Or, you may find your symptoms are severe and constant. But what are the symptoms of PTSD?

 

1. Re-experiencing: This is the most typical symptom of PTSD and causes you to involuntarily and vividly relive the traumatic event. Be it from flashbacks, nightmares or repetitive and distressing images or sensations, these constant reminders  of the traumatic event can bring on distressing memories which cause you considerable anguish.

 

2. Avoidance: As re-experiencing can really take its toll on your wellbeing, many people with PTSD try to avoid being reminded of the traumatic event. Whether people, situations or circumstances resemble or are associated with the event, you will try to avoid these things in order to push the memories of the event out of your mind. You probably don’t like talking or even thinking about the event in detail, but will repeatedly ask yourself questions that prevent you from coming to terms with it. You may, for example, keep wondering why this has happened to you and what you or someone else could have done to prevent the event.

 

3. Hyperarousal: This is the technical term for feeling “on edge”. You may be very anxious most of the time and find it difficult to relax if you’re struggling with PTSD. It may be hard for you to concentrate, sleep or control your outbursts of anger and irritation, as you are constantly aware of threats and easily startled.

 

4. Emotional numbing: As with avoidance, you may try to deal with your feelings by trying to not feel anything at all. This emotional numbing means that you detach or isolate yourself from others, and may often experience feelings of guilt. The people around you can think you’re deep in thought and withdrawn, and you may have also given up on pursuing the activities that you used to enjoy.

 

5. Other symptoms: There are many symptoms associated with PTSD, which include;

• Depression, anxiety and phobias


• Drug misuse or alcohol misuse


• Sweating, shaking, and dizziness,


• Chest pains


• Headaches


• Stomach upsets


• Relationship problems


• Problems in the workplace

 

If your child has witnessed a traumatic event, he or she can also experience PTSD. The symptoms of this are often similar to those that an adult might develop, but you should look out for sleeping troubles and frightening and upsetting dreams. You may also find that your child has lost interest in activities that they used to enjoy, and is experiencing physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach aches.

Categories: Avoidance, emotional numbing, experience ptsd, Hyperarousal, ptsd, ptsd symptoms, traumatic event

Why is Depression Often Misdiagnosed as PTSD in Men?

The emotional health of those who suffer with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is at risk to other mental wellness issues. This is according to new research, published online in June in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, which found that at least half of people with PTSD also suffer from depression.

Based on the findings of 57 studies that included more than 6,600 civilians and military personnel who suffered from PTSD, the researchers found that 52% of those studied also had symptoms of depression. When your wellbeing is affected by PTSD, you can experience symptoms of avoidance behaviours and flashbacks to bad memories. This anxiety disorder usually stems from a traumatic event, but there are multiple causes of depression. In addition to the harrowing effects of PTSD, depression can add symptoms of lingering and overwhelming sadness and hopelessness, and even thoughts of suicide.

Up until now, it was estimated that anywhere from 20% to 80% of people with PTSD also had depression, but the researchers in Case Western Reserve University’s department of psychological sciences have narrowed this number down. The research team also reported that their new analysis is proof that rates of depression are similar among men and women with PTSD, and shows the need to routinely assess patients for both depression and PTSD.

In a university news release, lead investigator Nina Rytwinski commented, ‘If individuals do not get a comprehensive assessment of what’s bothering them, one or the other can be missed.’ She added that the study results show that the way in which men are treated needs to be improved. As it stands, wellness experts tend to more frequently identify depression in women, and often misattribute the same symptoms to PTSD in men. Rytwinski noted, ‘The biases against men with PTSD symptoms put them at risk for underdiagnosis and undertreatment of a major depressive disorder.’

This study comes after the recent announcement that people who experience post-traumatic stress disorder following a heart attack may find it hard to get a good night’s sleep. The researchers from Columbia University Medical Centre noted that poor sleep is typical among PTSD patients, which may help explain the association between heart attack-induced PTSD and worse sleep quality. However, this study, which was published in the Annals of Behavioural Medicine, did find a difference in gender, as it revealed that women were more likely to be affected by poor sleep following a heart attack.

Categories: Gender, ptsd, Research

PTSD: Is it Possible to Cure it with Stretches and Meditation?

Nurses deal with highly stressful and traumatic experiences every day, which puts them at a higher risk of post-traumatic stress disorder – also known as PTSD. This anxiety disorder is diagnosed in over seven million adults in the US alone, but there could be a simple and easy solution that could help you to treat this problem. Researchers have found that two hours of stretching and meditation each week could cure nurses and other sufferers of this issue. The hormone responsible for stress control is cortisol, and the levels of this hormone decreases when people experience PTSD. In a similar way that Tai Chi or Yoga works, meditating and stretching can help to calm the mind and relax the body, helping to reduce the impact that stress has on the body. A recent study showed that those suffering with PTSD noticed a 41 percent decrease in their symptoms after eight weeks of the twice-weekly classes. This led to a 67 percent increase in cortisol levels in the blood.

 

Researchers were surprised by the results, expecting initially to only see around a 20 percent decrease in the PTSD symptoms. The method is so simple, but it can have a dramatic effect on the stress-induced post-traumatic stress disorder. The nurses in the study noted that they also showed reduced experiences of flashbacks or emotional detachment, which is common in PTSD. They noted that they could sleep more soundly and get less angry through their work. People often dismiss meditating and breathing exercises as merely holistic methods without much evidence to support them, but this study suggests that you can make a significant impact on PTSD with this easy and quick method. It is a cheap and easy form of reducing stress in everyday life, as well as for more serious conditions.

Categories: meditation, ptsd, Stress

PTSD: an Inevitable Outcome of the Boston Marathon Bombings?

The Boston Marathon bombings killed three people, physically injured nearly 200 others, and traumatized thousands more. While the wellness of many was affected by physical injuries, the events of the 19^th of April has caused immeasurable damage to the emotional wellbeing of countless others, the healing of which may be measured in small steps over months, and possibly years. Even if you were nowhere near the blasts, the Marathon explosions will leave a legacy of emotional scars along with the physical ones. While those close to the explosions were visually traumatised, while others were sick with worry from afar, knowing that their loved one was running in the Marathon or cheering on runners near the finish line.

There has been speculation that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an inevitable outcome for many who were at the scene of the explosions. While some will undoubtedly develop PTSD, this is not the only response you can have to frightening events. PTSD only affects a small proportion of people who have been exposed to a trauma. Some people develop an anxiety disorder, for example, or become depressed, while the majority of others, though having some form of emotional response, develop no illness at all.

There are two types of event that can trigger PTSD; either a traumatic experience that involves a significant threat—or reality—of death, serious injury, or damage to physical integrity, or an event, like this one, that inspires intense fear, helplessness, or horror. You don’t have to experience the event directly to develop PTSD; you can witness is or be confronted with it in some other way.

The condition generally causes three kinds of symptoms; hyperarousal (in which you become irritable, easily startled, and constantly on guard), intrusion (in which the traumatic event involuntarily pops up in the mind as vivid memories, nightmares, or flashbacks) and/or emotional numbing (in which you try to avoid feelings, thoughts, persons, places, and situations that evoke memories of the trauma). If you or a loved one are experiencing any of these symptoms, you should contact a mental health professional, who can help to remove the obstacles to you getting on with life.

PTSD: an Inevitable Outcome of the Boston Marathon Bombings?

Categories: Bombings, Boston Marathon, ptsd