Signs You’re Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

When a heart-breaking situation like rape and child sexual abuse, which has now become a norm in the world, occurs, so much emphasis is drawn to how it happened while the psychological trauma to individuals and communities who experience this tragic occurrence are undiscussed.

If you have gone through a life-threatening situation, it is normal to feel lots of emotions such as mood swings, distress, fear, helplessness, guilt, shame or anger. You may feel better after some days or weeks, but sometimes, it’s so deep into the mind that the feelings don’t go away.

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Study have proven that If the symptoms last for more than a month, one may be suffering from what is known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is a mental disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to traumatic events such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, or other threats on a person’s life.

Symptoms of PTSD may include;

Repeatedly thinking about the trauma. You may find that thoughts about the trauma come to mind even when you don’t want them to. You might also have nightmares or flashbacks about the trauma or may become upset when something reminds you of the event.

Being constantly alert or on guard. You may be easily startled or angered, irritable or anxious and preoccupied with staying safe. You may also find it hard to concentrate or sleep or have physical problems, like constipation, diarrhea, rapid breathing, muscle tension or rapid heart rate.

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Avoiding reminders of the trauma. You may not want to talk about the event or be around people or places that remind you of the event. You also may feel emotionally numb, detached from friends and family, and lose interest in activities.
On whether PTSD occurs in reality, our correspondent asked some people and medical practitioners on their take on the matter and there were touching responses.

Speaking from a personal experience, a respondent who preferred to remain anonymous said; ‘’I have been a victim of this disorder for close to 16 years. Since I was 8 years old I had serious hatred for anyone called a man, just because of the trauma I faced when a family friend tried to molest me, and for the first time at my tender age I was exposed to sexual thoughts.

‘’This cost me a lot having to deal with a man especially in my love life, but thanks to the counselling I got which helped me snap out of the disorder’’.

Dr. Daniel, a medical practitioner, said ‘’ the traumatizing experience could be a serial rape, war, death of many family members at the same time.

He went further to explain that when PTSD occurs, the mind finds it hard to forget the experience and the body keeps responding the same way or close to the way it responded the first time whenever the mind replays the events. The doctor stated that PTSD is usually treated with psychological therapy.

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However, some people do not believe there is anything as post-traumatic stress disorder especially in Nigeria as they believe most people confuse it for fear or phobia.

One important thing to remember is that when someone has PTSD, it often affects people around them as well. Family members and friends may notice that you are jumpier, anxious, depressed or not sleeping well. Also, people with PTSD tend to withdraw from people.

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