June is National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) month and reflects on how to navigate life with PTSD. PTSD is a mental illness most commonly associated with veterans or active military but affects a large quantity of people.
According to the National Center for PTSD, about 6 out of every 100 people (6% of the U.S. population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives. About 5 out of every 100 adults (5%) in the U.S. has PTSD in any given year. In 2020, about 13 million Americans had PTSD.
“Many people who have PTSD will recover and no longer meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD after treatment. So, this number counts people who have PTSD at any point in their life, even if their symptoms go away,” states the National Center for PTSD.
People may develop PTSD after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, or other various scenarios. Personal factors like previous traumatic exposure, age and gender can affect whether a person will develop PTSD. In addition, what happens after the traumatic event may increase or decrease the chances of developing PTSD.
“PTSD symptoms usually start soon after the traumatic event, but they may not appear until months or years later. If the symptoms last longer than 4 weeks, cause you great distress, or interfere with your work or home life, you might have PTSD.”
There are four types of PTSD symptoms. To be diagnosed with PTSD, an individual needs to have each type. These symptoms are reliving the event, avoiding things that remind a person of the event, having more negative thoughts and emotions than before the event occurred, and feeling on edge or keyed up.
Children may also experience these symptoms if they have PTSD. According to the center, children under 6 may get upset if their parents are not close by, have trouble sleeping, or act out the trauma through play. Children ages 6-11 may have nightmares, be irritable or aggressive, act out their trauma through play, drawings, or stories, and avoid their school or friends. Children 12 and above will share more similar symptoms to adults and may experience depression, anxiety, withdrawal, and reckless behavior.
“Both trauma-focused psychotherapy and medication are proven to treat PTSD,” states the National Center for PTSD. “A few trauma-focused psychotherapies are the most highly recommended treatments for PTSD. 'Trauma-focused' means that the therapy focuses on the memory of the traumatic event or its meaning.”
The three most effective types of trauma-focused psychotherapy are known as Cognitive Processing Therapy that focuses on learning skills to understand and process emotions related to the trauma, Prolonged Exposure where individuals talk about their trauma repeatedly until memories are no longer upsetting, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, which involves focusing on sounds or hand movements while discussing the trauma. Common medications associated with treating PTSD include sertraline, paroxetine and venlafaxine among others.
The National Center for PTSD has posted a 30-day calendar on how to spread the word for PTSD Awareness Month. To learn more ways to spread the word or to learn more about this mental health disorder, visit ptsd.va.gov/ understand/awareness/ index.asp.