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Treatment for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) can assist you in regaining control over your life. After a seriously frightening or terrifying experience, PTSD, a kind of anxiety disorder, may develop. Even if you weren't personally engaged in the incident or experience, you may still find it difficult to lead a normal life as a result of the shock of the aftermath. Flashbacks, insomnia, low self-esteem, and a wide range of unpleasant feelings can all be symptoms of PTSD.
People affected by this condition and their families may suffer significant physical and psychological effects as a result of it. However, if you have received a diagnosis, you may be able to better manage symptoms and lead a healthy life with the appropriate treatment for PTSD.
Treatment for PTSD: Most Effective Options
If the issues you encounter following exposure to a triggering event persist for longer than a month, significantly impair your ability to perform in social and professional contexts, and have a negative effect on your relationships, you may be suffering from PTSD.
A lot of research has been conducted on PTSD. Numerous treatments, including medication and therapy techniques, have proven successful. Let's examine each of these treatments for PTSD in full detail:
1) Trauma Focused Psychotherapy
PTSD can be successfully treated with certain types of psychotherapy, sometimes referred to as talk therapy. The signs of PTSD are not always dramatic, and the event may not even be "seemingly traumatic" one. However, it is important to sit with a professional and rethink what trauma can look like.
The majority of therapies are focused on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a type of talk therapy intended to help people recognize and change unhelpful and irrational thought habits.
- Cognitive Therapy: This kind of treatment for PTSD assists you in identifying the cognitive patterns (ways of thinking) that are holding you immobilized, such as unfavourable self-perceptions and the possibility of traumatic events recurring. Cognitive therapy is frequently used with exposure therapy for PTSD.
- Exposure Therapy: This behavioral therapy supports you in securely confronting memories and events that make you feel uncomfortable, so you can develop appropriate coping mechanisms. Flashbacks and nightmares may respond particularly well to exposure therapy.
2) Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
EMDR therapy uses repeated eye movements to break up and reorganize some of your trauma-related memories. Following a discussion of your past, you and your therapist will decide on a memory that you both find particularly challenging and work on it.
Your therapist will lead you through a sequence of side-to-side eye motions as you recall the specifics of that experience. You'll progressively be ready to reframe that recollection from a more positive perspective as you learn how to handle that memory and the associated emotions it evokes.
3) Stress Inoculation Training
The subset of CBT is SIT. You can complete it alone or with others, and you won't need to describe what happened in great detail. The emphasis is largely on altering how you approach event-related stress.
You might study massage, breathing, and other relaxation methods to help you eliminate worrying thoughts. You should be able to release the extra tension from your life after around three months.
4) Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)
This is a type of treatment for PTSD for kids under the age of five who have gone through traumatic experiences or are dealing with trauma symptoms, bonding issues or behavioral issues. To safeguard the child's growth and trauma healing, one of the key objectives is to support and build a bond between the caregiver and the child. Yes, while it is a difficult reality to accept, even children can be traumatized.
5) Medications
Remember that there are many physiological symptoms associated with PTSD that may not be resolved through therapy alone. Typical medications used to treat PTSD include:
a) Antidepressants
These medications aid in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms. They may cause headaches, nausea, muscular spasms, or irritability, among other problems, as side effects. Antidepressants also come with a warning that they could increase a child, teen, or young adult's chances of having suicidal thoughts.
b) Benzodiazepines
These medications can aid in reducing stress and anxiety symptoms. Due to their abuse potential, they are typically not used over an extended period of time.
c) Prazosin (Minipress)
Prazosin may occasionally be administered to treat persistent nightmares and other sleeplessness symptoms. The negative effects of prazosin can include weakness, nausea, headaches, and drowsiness.
When A Loved One Suffers From PTSD
The person you love may appear to be a different person than you knew them to be before the trauma, exhibiting signs such as withdrawal, melancholy, anger, or irritation. The mental and emotional health of friends and family members who have PTSD may be severely strained.
It may be upsetting to learn about the tragedy that caused your significant one's PTSD and possibly brought up sad memories for you. If your loved one tries to talk about the trauma, you can find yourself avoiding them or losing faith in their ability to recover. You might feel terrible that you can't help your loved one get better or hasten the healing process at the same time.
Despite your valid concerns, keep in mind that nobody can change the condition completely, but you can attempt to make things better by opting to seek treatment for PTSD.
It may seem impossible to regain your life when you have PTSD. However, it is indeed treatable. Medication and psychotherapy, both short and long-term, can be quite effective. These two types of treatments frequently work better when combined.
Schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider or a mental health expert if you believe you may need to seek treatment for PTSD. You can use the aforementioned details to help you get ready for your appointment and find out what to anticipate. If possible, bring a dependable family member or friend. It might occasionally be challenging to recall all the information that has been provided to you. While it may seem complex, treatment for PTSD can really make positive changes in your life.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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