PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is different for each person, because trauma is interpreted and processed differently by each person. Some people go through similar painful, frightening, or shocking circumstances and develop no symptoms of PTSD; but about 7-8% of people will experience PTSD in their lifetime. Many conditions influence if we’re more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, including the length we endure our trauma, how sensitive we are, what age our trauma occurs, what outside influences we’re subjected to, and how intense the trauma itself is. If you’re unsure if you suffer from PTSD, a doctor can help diagnose you. I didn’t receive the correct diagnosis for many years, simply because the symptoms can be easily confused with other disorders and the clinical understanding of PTSD is still being developed, so make sure you get a second opinion with any mental classification (also make sure you agree with your diagnosis on some level). Since my diagnosis, I have spent ample time researching and finding helpful resources to help relieve some of the challenges associated with my condition. I’m not a doctor, but from my research I have concluded there are four main categories for symptoms inherent to having PTSD:
- Intrusive thoughts. These are repeated, involuntary memories that vividly recall visceral details of the traumatic event. These can manifest as strong emotions, distressing dreams, intensely fresh memories of past trauma, or in severe cases, even visual and audio hallucinations that make it seem as though the sufferer is re-living their traumatic experience or seeing it happen again right before their eyes. This can make it very hard to feel safe, causing the sufferer to constantly feel on guard. This can result in the person being easily frightened, cause sleep disturbances, and make it difficult to feel positive emotions.
- Avoidance. Avoidance as a symptom can indicate an unbearable amount of emotion attached to any people, places, activities, objects, sensory reminders, or situations that bring on distressing memories. When a sufferer is acting avoidant, they do not interact, speak, or engage with triggering stimulus. They may be unable to think or talk about their trauma at all, struggling to recall details about their traumatic experience.
- Negative thoughts and feelings. This painful perspective can affect not only the suffer’s attitude, but negatively influence their entire belief system. Ongoing, distorted, and intensely negative feelings warp the suffer’s sense of reality and paint a new (and overwhelmingly convincing) picture of fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame. The sufferer may also lose interest in activities they usually enjoy; or they may feel numb, detached, or isolated from everything altogether. Many people with PTSD find it difficult to concentrate, struggle with shifting or negative moods, and feel intense or prolonged distress around triggering subjects.
- Reactive symptoms. These symptoms present themselves as intense emotions, such angry outbursts or depressive hopelessness. Some sufferers experience an exaggerated stress response and become hyper-vigilant, hyper-aroused, or hyper-sensitive. Behaving recklessly, expressing aggressively, acting self-destructively (substance abuse, self harm, etc), acting impulsively, and generally feeling irritable/anxious are other symptoms of being highly reactive.
Trauma Blocking
Trauma blocking is an effort to block out residual, overwhelming, or painful feelings related to trauma. This can be adaptive or maladaptive. Some behavior may benefit the individual, but most forms of trauma blocking are avoidant behaviors, where we may succeed in avoiding pain but potentially increase stress in other areas. Here are some examples what of trauma blocking behavior can look like:
 Excessive use of social media and compulsive mindless scrolling.
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 Binge drinking or using other substances every weekend or anytime you’re off from work.
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 Excessive or mindless eating even when you’re not hungry or uncomfortably full, or if you restrict eating even if you feel hungry.
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 Compulsive exercising or never being satisfied with your exercise goal.
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 Being uncomfortable being alone or staying in toxic relationships long after their expiration date.
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 Feeling uncomfortable if you have nothing to do and feeling pressured to always be involved in something.
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 Compulsive online shopping for things you don’t need or spending so much money that it puts you into debt.
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 Becoming a workaholic or having poor boundaries at work, including being available 24/7.
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It’s understandable to want to move on or distract ourselves as soon as possible after we experience hurtful things, but sometimes our true feelings get shoved down and don’t get properly acknowledged. If we feel anxious or uneasy when we’re alone, when we try to sit undistracted, or when we think about certain subjects, we may have some unresolved feelings that need our attention.
Do you avoid your feelings with any of these patterns of trauma blocking behavior? We can confront any habits that don’t serve us by being aware of our behaviors.
Disconnecting from Painful Memories
With mindfulness, we can improve our memories every time we think of them. If we’re recalling an enjoyable memory, we can honor it with appreciation. This will enhance our happiness more and more each time we use mindfulness to explore and deepen our gratitude for our past. On the other hand, if we associate negative feelings like pain, fear, or sadness with a specific memory, we’ll experience that suffering every time we’re reminded of that event.
Fortunately, we can rewrite our hurt or fearful feelings by recalling them with loving kindness, compassion, and acceptance. Even if we think of the memory in a habitually negative way at first, we can pause, take a deep breath, and match our unskillful thought with a wiser, more nurturing one. We can slowly reform our feelings about past events by remembering challenging times in a positive perspective, looking for the lessons we learned or the strengths we gained. The more positives we can acknowledge, the better we’ll feel. Even if it seems bleak or feels silly at first, intentionally looking for positives and accepting things in the past as they are can liberate us from our guilt, shame, or regret. With enough positive reinforcement, we can disconnect from our negative feelings and find acceptance and gratitude for all of our memories, even ones that we struggle with greatly now.
Fortunately, we can rewrite our hurt or fearful feelings by recalling them with loving kindness, compassion, and acceptance. Even if we think of the memory in a habitually negative way at first, we can pause, take a deep breath, and match our unskillful thought with a wiser, more nurturing one. We can slowly reform our feelings about past events by remembering challenging times in a positive perspective, looking for the lessons we learned or the strengths we gained. The more positives we can acknowledge, the better we’ll feel. Even if it seems bleak or feels silly at first, intentionally looking for positives and accepting things in the past as they are can liberate us from our guilt, shame, or regret. With enough positive reinforcement, we can disconnect from our negative feelings and find acceptance and gratitude for all of our memories, even ones that we struggle with greatly now.
May we find ease in our mind.
May we let go of our traumas.
May we become insightful, brave, and balanced for the benefit of society.
May we let go of our traumas.
May we become insightful, brave, and balanced for the benefit of society.