PTSD and Trauma

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events. Someone with PTSD often relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks. They may have a sudden recollection of certain sounds, smells and physical reactions from the traumatic event. They can experience feelings of deep upset, isolation, irritability and guilt. This can subsequently create other difficulties. For example, sleeping – such as insomnia – and finding concentrating difficult. These symptoms are often severe and persistent enough to have a significant impact on the person’s day-to-day life. Attempts to drown out these feeling may result in alcohol or substance abuse. A common form of treatment for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR). During EMDR, people relive the experience that has been triggering them whilst their eye movements are being controlled by the therapist. The recalling of the event is said to be less traumatic if your attention is diverted, minimising the overall distress. At The Eaves we can help by providing specialist therapies such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR).

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FAQs

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by very stressful, frightening or distressing events.

Someone with PTSD often relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks, and may experience feelings of isolation, irritability and guilt. They may also have problems such as insomnia, and find concentrating difficult. These symptoms are often severe and have a significant impact on the person’s day-to-day life.

PTSD can develop immediately after someone experiences a disturbing event, or it can occur weeks, months or even years later. PTSD is estimated to affect 1 in every 3 people who have a traumatic experience, but it’s not clear exactly why some people develop the condition and others do not.