PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder is psychological disorder affecting individuals who have experienced or witnessed profoundly traumatic events. The impact of these events last considerably longer than normally expected recovery time.
Read the DSM-IV (diagnotic and statistical manual of mental disorders) criteria
Read a more user-friendly and thorough explanation of PTSD
Causes of PTSD:
Single major life-threatening events: war, act of violence, accident, disaster; prolonged series of events: bullying, harassment, abuse, or living with a violent partner.
Symptoms of PTSD:
*sleep problems including nightmares and waking early
*flashbacks and replays which you are unable to switch off
*impaired memory, forgetfulness, inability to recall names, facts and dates that are well known to you
*impaired concentration
*impaired learning ability (i.e., through poor memory and inability to concentrate)
*hypervigilance (feels like but is not paranoia)
*exaggerated startle response irritability, sudden intense anger, occasional violent outbursts
*panic attacks
*hypersensitivity, whereby every remark is perceived as critical
*obsessiveness - the experience takes over your life, you can't get it out of your mind
*joint and muscle pains which have no obvious cause
*feelings of nervousness, anxiety
*reactive depression (not endogenous depression)
*excessive levels of shame, embarrassment
*survivor guilt for having survived when others perished or for not having done more to help or save others
*a feeling of having been given a second chance at life
*undue fear
*low self-esteem and shattered self-confidence
*emotional numbness, anhedonia (inability to feel love or joy)
*feelings of detachment
*avoidance of anything that reminds you of the experience
*physical and mental paralysis at any reminder of the experience
If you identify with any of these symptoms and want to know more, please call.
There is courage in seeking help. I can help you.
Tony
Posted at 2012-04-26 18:08:48
I leave for you the poem my daughter wrote. I think you will get a very clear pitruce of what War-Related Intergenerational Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) means to her :FLASHBACKSI see that faraway thousand mile stare in your eyesthe intensitythe crazinessthat lies withinI want to runI want to hideI'm scared for my lifein the blink of an eyethe person I know is gonefilled with rageyou screamyou cryyou get angryand at the moment I don't know whyI don't understandI cannot comprehendthe tormented hell that you have been infor I am only a child WHERE ARE MY GUNS!! you screamyou cannot find themI try not to blink an eyeso you will not suspectI took themto protect us allto save your lifethe relentless search continuesthen you realizeI took themyou turn to me filled with this ragethat is now directed at methe interrogation beginsto no availI will not give inyou've not broken meI am already brokenI shut downterrifiedI want to cryat moments I wish I would dieI can not endure another momentin this hellthis horror that I was born intothis is my existencethis is my hellBy Danielle Reyescopyright 2008As for myself, the mother of children exposed & forever effected, to be constantly pulled between your children & your husband their father who suffers from PTSD creates a wound in the heart that can never be completely repaired. Otherwise here is what I have written about my personal experience with PTSD:PTSD IT'S HORRORI am the widow of a Vietnam Veteran. We were married 27 years and had 2 (two) children. We knew each other for 31 years. During that time I witnessed my husband's mental (emotional) and physical (he also suffered from illnesses linked to agent orange) state deteriorate dramatically. I have fought alongside my husband and struggled to survive the roller coaster that we came to know as our very existence: PTSD.Our family was profoundly affected by PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). We all suffered. We experienced my husband's trauma all the time, it never stopped happening. Our family lived in an environment which was always UNCERTAIN. We never knew what would happen next, never knew what to expect because we could not anticipate his actions. We had to be prepared at all times for the worst. Our lives were hell and our home was a war zone, always fearing the unexpected, never an opportunity to escape. PTSD is the worst kind of torture. It's horror. Slowly wearing you down day in and day out until it has control and becomes unleashed. It ripped a hole in my husband's soul and it took us, his family with him. It's like being on an out of control roller coaster ride that will never be over.
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