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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that develops after a distressing event. The question is why do we still feel the residual effect of past trauma years later? Our bodies may tighten, our heart rate may pick up, we may experience unpleasant flashbacks, or we can feel our anxiety spiking from a traumatic trigger point. This is all because trauma physically rewires the brain. Most people experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives, but not everyone develops PTSD from the event. Here are the U.S. statistics:
● About 6% of the U.S. population will have PTSD at some point in their lives. Many people will eventually recover and no longer meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD after treatment.
● 5% of the U.S. population has PTSD in any given year.
● In 2020, approximately 13 million Americans had PTSD.
● Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men (8% of women develop PTSD and 4% of men develop PTSD).
● Veterans are most likely to develop PTSD, specifically those deployed to a war zone.
While trauma doesn’t always lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, it’s important for those who have witnessed or experienced trauma (and their support system) to know the signs and symptoms of PTSD, how to treat it, and how to seek help. Learn more about how PTSD can affect anyone and the ways Nova Vita can help ease the symptoms of past trauma.
Nova Vita Solutions
Nova Vita Wellness Centers provide IV ketamine therapy to help promote neuroplasticity and ease anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. Our ketamine therapy consists of six infusions over 14 days. During this time, our team will work with you to monitor the effects of the treatment, provide support, and collaborate with your mental health provider to help meet your treatment goals. Ketamine causes an increase in neurotransmitters like glutamate to help build new pathways in the brain, ultimately improving mood, sleep quality, and more. Ketamine triggers reactions in the cortex that enable your brain connections to regrow. This means that when the ketamine is no longer in your system, you’ll still experience the long-term effects.
Ketamine in addition to other treatments is a beneficial alternative for people who did not find relief from traditional medications for mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidal ideation. Additionally, NAD+ can replenish neurotransmitters previously depleted due to constant activation of the nervous system and body which occurs in trauma to the brain and body. NAD+ Therapy can be used independently or in conjunction with IV ketamine infusions. Learn more about scheduling a FREE ketamine or NAD+ consultation by booking an appointment today.
Who Can Develop PTSD?
The short answer is anyone can develop PTSD. No one is immune to trauma and how it affects the brain. The experience of PTSD will look different for everyone depending on the impact of the trauma. Sometimes symptoms will appear seemingly instantaneously, for others symptoms
will be delayed and it may take decades to recognize them.
Many elements may affect if an individual is more susceptible to post-traumatic stress, such as:
● Exposure to trauma and the severity and number of traumas experienced.
● Emotional response
● Family histories of anxiety and depression
● Hormone regulations (that affect your response to traumatic events and stress)
● Job occupations with high levels of stress such as soldiers, doctors, nurses, EMTs, law enforcement, and firefighters.
Traumatic Events That May Lead to PTSD
The exact causes of PTSD are complex, like many other mental health conditions. The following are examples of events that may cause PTSD:
● Serious accidents (car crashes, severe burns from fires, head trauma, etc).
● Being raped or sexually assaulted.
● Being abused, harassed, or bullied, including racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and other types of abuse regarding your identity.
● Experiencing or witnessing violence through violent assault, military combat, or a terrorist attack.
● Seeing other people hurt or killed in particularly upsetting circumstances.
● Losing someone close to you in a particularly upsetting way.
● Experiencing a loved one commit suicide.
● Being in a career where you repeatedly see or hear distressing things (ex: doctors witnessing someone die)
● Surviving natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes, tornados, or pandemics.
● Being diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.
● Traumatic childbirth or miscarriage (and witnessing one as a partner).
PTSD Symptoms
While PTSD symptoms will vary from person to person, they are commonly grouped into the following categories:
1. Reliving the event: This can look like recurring and unwelcome memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and strong emotional and physical reactions to triggers.
2. Avoidance: Individuals may try to keep busy or distract themselves from talking or thinking about the event. This can look like avoiding people, places, and situations that remind them of the event.
3. Increased negative thoughts and feelings: A person may feel hopeless about the future, experience guilt or shame, have memory issues, feel distant from others, lose interest in their hobbies, and feel emotionally numb.
4. Feeling hyper-aroused: A person may startle more easily, be hyper-anxious, engage in self-destructive behavior (drinking, drugs, speeding, etc), have difficulty sleeping, and struggle to focus.
Trauma can also manifest physically in the body through anxiety, headaches, high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach issues, muscle pain, and fatigue or insomnia. PTSD affects the body physically because when we are emotionally distressed, our bodies release cortisol and
adrenaline hormones. This is how the body prepares to respond to a threat, also called the “fight, flight, or freeze response.” Some people with PTSD will continue producing these hormones when they’re no longer in danger, experiencing heightened anxiety, alertness, and being easily startled. If you are concerned about how your hormone levels are affecting your PTSD symptoms, consider getting your hormone levels tested at Nova Vita.
How PTSD is Diagnosed
Mental health professionals will diagnose PTSD using a physical and psychological evaluation, as well as the DSM-5, the standard for psychiatric diagnosis. Some of the DSM-5 criteria include the following factors:
● Direct experience of a traumatic event.
● Witnessing a traumatic event happen to others.
● Learning someone you love was affected by a traumatic event.
● Repeated exposure to graphic details of experienced traumatic events (emergency room staff, law enforcement officers, firearms, etc.)
The above standards and combination of avoidance, re-experiencing events, hyperarousal, and mood symptoms strongly point to a PTSD diagnosis. PTSD symptoms have to affect you longer than one month and interfere with your ability to function in normal activities and relationships for a professional diagnosis to be considered.
How PTSD is Treated
The two most common forms of effective treatment for PTSD are medication (anti-anxiety or antidepressants or ketamine) and psychotherapy. Medical professionals may suggest a combination of the two types of treatment for maximum relief. Psychotherapy (talk therapy) can take place in one-on-one meetings or group support meetings.
A licensed therapist can help you talk through your traumatic memories and provide coping skills and new perspectives so you don’t feel out of control with your emotions.
Other forms of therapy include exposure therapy, cognitive restructuring, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Exposure therapy for PTSD is a trauma-focused treatment with a trained professional that helps a person gradually confront their distressing memories over time in a safe environment. Cognitive restructuring for PTSD focuses on identifying and re-evaluating negative thought patterns and feelings associated with traumatic memories. People will be challenged to question the accuracy of their thoughts and focus on the facts. EDMR involves recalling a traumatic memory while focusing on an external stimulus that invokes side-to-side movements of the eyes. This movement helps facilitate the processing of the belief by activating both brain hemispheres.
Bottom Line
PTSD can be a debilitating, isolating experience. If you are overwhelmed by symptoms or negative thoughts you think are related to PTSD, contact your healthcare and mental health providers to discuss the possibility of a PTSD diagnosis. If you recognize the symptoms in a friend or loved one, reach out and offer them support. PTSD does not have to be a solo journey and Nova Vita can help you on your path to recovery. Call or text us today to get started.
