PTSD, How Online Therapy Can Help You.
Hello, and welcome. Let's start by talking about PTSD. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, has a rich historical background. It was first recognized as "shell shock" during World War I and later as "combat fatigue" during World War II. PTSD is a type of trauma that can result from various events, such as a car accident, robbery, kidnap, torture, brutal attack, rape, witnessing death or a serious injury, war, and natural disaster.
Traumatic events can affect people differently, and by the age of 16, most people have experienced at least one traumatic event. PTSD comes with a complex set of symptoms, including somatic, cognitive, affective, and behavioral, that are the effects of psychological trauma.
Several pre-existing individual and societal risk factors are associated with PTSD. Gender, age at trauma, lower levels of education, lower socioeconomic status, pre-existing trauma, adverse childhood experiences, marital status, poor social support, and initial severity of the reaction to the trauma are some of these factors.
The criteria for PTSD include intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks of past traumatic events; avoidance of reminders of trauma; hypervigilance; and sleep disturbance. These can lead to considerable social, occupational, and interpersonal dysfunction. For a person to be diagnosed with PTSD, the symptoms must last for more than a month and cause significant distress or problems in the individual’s daily functioning.
If you or someone you know is struggling with PTSD, seeking help from a mental health professional can be beneficial. A trained therapist can work with you to develop effective coping strategies and improve your overall quality of life.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a highly effective and preferred therapeutic treatment for PTSD. It can be provided in an individual or group format, and trauma-focused CBT directly addresses memories, thoughts, and feelings related to the traumatic event. Clients are asked to focus and confront the traumatic experience in a session, which helps to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and replace them with realistic thoughts. It increases the ability to cope by reducing escape and avoidance behaviors through exposure in a controlled manner.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is another treatment option. It was initially developed in 1987 to treat PTSD and has shown to be clinically effective in children and adults. The therapy incorporates the use of eye movements and other forms of rhythmic left-right (bilateral) stimulation, such as with tones or taps. When clients focus on the trauma memory and simultaneously experience bilateral stimulation, the vividness and emotion are reduced.
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is a treatment option that may be more complex due to political, cultural, or social influences. NET is currently included in the suggested interventions for treating PTSD in adults individually and in a group setting. The treatment focuses on imaginary trauma exposure and reorganizing memories. The therapist and client work to create the client's timeline in sessions, and the client receives the written narrative as a testimony of their life at the end of treatment sessions.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy, developed by Professor Edna Foa from the University of Pennsylvania, is a treatment option that teaches individuals to approach their trauma-related memories, feelings, and situations. By facing what has been avoided, a person can decrease symptoms of PTSD. Both imaginal and in vivo exposure are used at the pace dictated by the patient.
If you are struggling with PTSD, it is important to seek help from a mental health professional. They can work with you to develop an individualized treatment plan that suits your needs and goals. Remember, treatment is available, and recovery is possible.