Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Understanding PTSD, Causes, Types and Treatments

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

PTSD is the result experiencing traumatic events that threaten the life and safety of ourselves or others. They can involve actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual abuse. Experiencing or hearing about a traumatic event or multiple traumatic events can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is likened to an overly sensitive alarm system. Even when a situation does not pose any threat, a sufferer of PTSD can react as if the threat is real.

Most people will experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. The brain’s natural response to a dangerous or life-threatening situation is what is known as the “fight or flight” response. During a crisis, the amygdala alerts the hypothalamus to release stress hormones that in turn cause the sympathetic nervous system to react appropriately. Once the danger has passed, the brain stops producing those stress hormones and returns to normal functioning.

With PTSD however, a person has not been able to process the traumatic event and the brain’s natural process is disrupted. When situations arise in the future that remind a person of the original trauma, the fight, flight, freeze response can be triggered unnecessarily. With its emphasis on physical and mental relaxation, hypnotherapy can be a highly effective intervention for PTSD.

PTSD may severely impact normal functioning. A person might avoid everyday activities, places and people that bring back painful memories. Left untreated, this often develops into anxiety, depression, insomnia and possibly alcohol or drug abuse. They may feel emotionally numb and detached from the world and find it impossible to develop relationships and a healthy social life.

Around 12 per cent of Australians will experience PTSD in their lifetime. Serious accidents area leading causes of PTSD in Australia.

The main symptoms of PTSD include:

• Re-living the traumatic event through distressing, unwanted memories, vivid nightmares and/or flashbacks. This may include feeling very upset or having intense physical reactions such as heart palpitations or being unable to breathe when experiencing thoughts the traumatic event. Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event, including activities, places, people, thoughts or feelings that bring back memories of the trauma.
• Negative thoughts and feelings such as fear, anger, guilt, or feeling flat or numb a lot of the time. A person might blame themselves or others for what happened during or after the traumatic event, feel cut-off from friends and family, or lose interest in day-to-day activities.
• Feeling wound-up. This might mean having trouble sleeping or concentrating, feeling angry or irritable, taking risks, being easily startled, and/or being constantly on the lookout for danger.
• Often  people with PTSD to experience other mental health problems as well. For example depression or anxiety. Some people may develop a habit of using alcohol or drugs as a way of coping.

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What causes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may develop after experiencing threatening and traumatic events. This could be a car accident, physical or sexual assault, abuse, death of a loved one, war or natural disasters and many others. As a result, the person experiences feelings of intense fear, helplessness, or horror. A person who is suffering from PTSD experiences may have regular flashbacks and this triggers intense fight or flight responses, creating feelings of anxiety, helplessness or terror. Subsequent emotional and physical reactions can cause sweating, heart rate increases and high levels of panic.

Types of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was thought to be something only military service members and veterans faced. Now, we understand that this stress disorder can happen to anyone, especially those who experience an intense, often life-threatening, event. PTSD differs from acute stress disorder in that the experiences are more long-term and will usually disturb daily life.

Normal Stress Response
Is what occurs before PTSD begins. However, it does not always lead up to the full-blown disorder. Events like accidents, injuries, illnesses, medical procedures and other sources of unreasonable amounts of tension and stress can all lead to this response.

Acute Stress Disorder
Whilst not the same as PTSD, can occur in people who have been exposed to what is or what feels like a life-threatening event. Natural disasters, loss of loved ones, loss of a job or risk of death are all stressors that can trigger acute stress disorder. If left untreated, it may actually develop into PTSD.

Uncomplicated PTSD
Uncomplicated PTSD is linked to one major traumatic event, versus multiple events, and is the easiest form of PTSD to treat.

Complex PTSD
Is the opposite of uncomplicated PTSD. It is caused by multiple traumatic events, not just one. Complex PTSD is common in abuse or domestic violence cases, repeated exposure to war or community violence. They often may have borderline or antisocial personality disorder or dissociative disorders, they exhibit behavioral issues, such as impulsivity, aggression, substance abuse or sexual impulsivity.

Treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Often when a person initially seeks hypnotherapy treatment, PTSD may not be presenting issue. Co-occurring disorders such as depression, panic attacks, sleep disorders, low self-esteem, addiction and sometimes more complex mental disorders such as borderline or antisocial personality disorder or dissociative disorders.

Hypnotic techniques include relaxation (reducing intensity of symptoms), identification of triggers  whilst in hypnosis, imagining the triggering stimuli and practicing  more appropriate responses thus reducing stress.

Clinical hypnotherapy has proven to be highly effective when working with PTSD either alone or as a part of a larger treatment plan. Several studies have shown the efficacy of hypnosis for PTSD for a variety of populations.

Erickonian hypnosis as developed by Milton Erickson’s (spanning over 50 years) it sparked a fundamental shift in modern psychotherapy and revolutionised the practice of hypnotherapy. Ericksonian hypnosis recognized as an highly effective type of therapy. It allows the clients to identify or resonate with their own strengths, abilities and resources that can assist in resolving the issues the seek to change. He developed the art skillful communications combined with observation and expectancy. He understood that the client’s resourcefulness is the key to solving their own problem, and the role of the therapist is to help them find the way to it.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, and post traumatic stress disorder. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications. CBT for PTSD helps by challenging the unhealthy thought processes and emotions connected to one’s trauma. Challenging these thought processes allows the patient to acknowledge the basic reality of the trauma.

Our Lake Macquarie Psychotherapy Treatments

Can Change Therapy offers the following treatments in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle: