Ask the Therapist
Students Questions about PTSD
1- Is it obvious if someone has PTSD, and if not how do you recognize it if
someone has it?
No. Generally, a person suffering PTSD will respond negatively to certain specific things or have peculiar habits like refusing to drive on the highway or getting highly agitated when confronted with certain physical symptoms that relate to the original trauma -- like itching or blurry vision.
2- If you do know someone who has PTSD, where is the best place to get help?
A qualified counselor or program.
3- How does one going about recovering from PTSD, from professionals and others and yourself?
There are any number of techniques. The most common complaint of sufferers is the "intrusions" -- memories or dreams that just pop up because they can. There is a great book called the "Handbook of PTSD" that you might want to look at.
4- Can PTSD be prevented in any way?
No. It is a reactive disorder. It can be minimized -- note the intense "real-world-scenario" training that the troops went through before insertion into Iraq. But it cannot be prevented.
5- Can PTSD happen to anyone, or is there certain genes in the body that make it more susceptible to certain people?
Totally a socially-based reactive response. At a biological level what happens is that the body gets stuck in the fight-or-flight mode. Adrenal is up, blood rushes to vital organs, waste is involuntarily expelled to "lighten the load", muscles tense, vision and hearing get sharper...the problem is that the response is inappropriate and unbidden -- like you're shopping for vegetables and all of a sudden your body is responding like you are being confronted with a half-dozen armed gunmen.
6- I know PTSD can occur in a disaster or something like that, but what are some other factors that cause it.?
It is primarily motivated by the body-memory of an intense trauma.
7- Is PTSD very common?
More so than the general public might be led to believe, yes.
8- Why and What was the difference in amounts of cases of PTSD in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, etc..? Age? more violence? (i dont know)
None. During the Great Wars, we called it shell shock [youngster :-) ]. It was not defined as a clinical disorder until the late 60's.
9- Are there any difficult aspect in the understanding of PTSD?
Not really. It's pretty straight-forward as disorders go.
10- Are there any myths or misconceptions about PTSD?
Not that I'm aware of.
11- What is the most important information to know about PTSD?
The most salient symptom -- intrusions -- can happen at any time and for no reason. The most important thing for those confronting PTSD in a significant other is that the sufferer does not feel safe and that the person confronting them need to know what to do to feel safe. E.g., I had a patient who was a rape victim who could not sleep alone. If she did, she'd wake up with nightmares, night sweats, etc. If she did not, she slept peacefully through the night.
12- Are their any sources where people to find info on PTSD?
The book that I mentioned is the best resource i have found to date and there are several sources on the web.
13- What effects can a person with PTSD have on people around them?
Mostly, people are confused by the actions and reactions of the sufferer.
14- What are consequences of people who have PTSD?( drinking, homeless, I don't know)
They run the gamut. Anything from nothing to I worked at a VA hospital in the early '80s populated with Vietnam Vets and there was one guy who, if you simply used words like incoming, slant, the proper name Charlie, etc. in a sentence would fly into a panic. It varies.
15- If cured can PTSD come back and why?
Yes -- which means it's never 'cured', but allayed. Recursive or coincident or somehow associated experience. Say you have a vet...s/he hears car backfire and you walk into the room and find them hiding, concerned about friendly fire -- happens all the time, even if there have been no episodes for years.
