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PTSD Symptoms
1. Re-experiencing
Symptoms
2. Avoidance Symptoms
3. Secondary Symptoms
4. Associated Symptoms
Re-experiencing Symptoms
Trauma survivors commonly continue
to re-experience their painful incident. Re-experiencing
means that the survivor recalls the same mental, emotional,
and physical experiences that occurred during or just after
the accident. This includes thinking about the event, seeing
images of the event, feeling agitated, and having physical
sensations like those that occurred during the trauma. Trauma
survivors find themselves feeling and acting as if they
are in danger, experiencing panic sensations, feeling an
urge to escape, or becoming angry. Because they are anxious
and physically agitated, survivors may have trouble sleeping
and concentrating on common tasks around the house or work-related
activities. These experiences are not usually voluntary;
the survivor usually cannot control them or stop them from
happening.
Mentally re-experiencing the trauma can include the following:
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Flashbacks |
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Bad dreams and nightmares |
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Upsetting memories by something the
survivor sees, hears, feels, smells, or tastes |
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Fear that the accident may happen
again |
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Anger or aggressive feelings |
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Constant trouble controlling emotions,
concentrating, or thinking clearly |
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Trouble having loving feelings or
feeling any strong emotions |
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Finding that things around you seem
strange or unreal |
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Feeling disconnected from the world
around you and things that happen to you |
People also can have physical reactions to
trauma reminders such as:
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Trouble falling or staying asleep
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Becoming easily startled by loud
noises or unsuspecting, sudden movements |
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Bodily tremors, excessive perspiration,
increased heart rate, or breathing problems |
Although re-experiencing symptoms are unpleasant,
they are a sign that the body and mind are actively struggling
to cope with the traumatic experience. These symptoms are
automatic, learned responses to trauma reminders. Evidence
suggests that re-experiencing a traumatic accident are actually
part of the mind’s attempt to make sense of what has
happened.
Avoidance Symptoms:
Because recalling the experience can be so upsetting, people
who have been through serious accidents want to avoid reminders
of it, whether voluntary or involuntary.
Ways of avoiding thoughts, feelings, and sensations associated
with the trauma can include:
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Avoiding conversations and staying
away from places, activities, or people that might remind
you of the event |
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Trouble remembering important parts
of what happened during the accident. |
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Avoiding situations that might make
you have a strong emotional reaction. |
Secondary Symptoms:
These are problems that come about as a result of going
through post-traumatic re-experiencing symptoms and avoidance
symptoms. For example, a survivor wants to avoid talking
about a traumatic event that happened and as a result, she
might disconnect from friends and begin to feel lonely and
depressed. Over time, secondary symptoms like depression
can become more troubling and disabling than the original
re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms.
Associated Symptoms:
These are symptoms are problems that do not come directly
from being overwhelmed with fear, but happen because of
other things that were going on at the time of the trauma.
For example: a person who is psychologically traumatized
in a car accident might also be physically injured and then
become depressed because he cannot work or leave the house.
The following can be both
secondary and associated symptoms:
Depression:
can happen when the survivor has losses connected with the
traumatic situation or when that person avoids others altogether.
Despair and hopelessness: survivor
is afraid that he or she will never feel better again.
Loss of important beliefs: a traumatic event makes a person
lose faith that the world is a good and safe place.
Aggressive behavior toward
oneself or others: frustration
over the inability to control PTSD symptoms (feeling that
PTSD symptoms "run your life").
Self-blame, guilt, and shame:
PTSD symptoms make it hard to fulfill current responsibilities.
It can also happen when people fall into the common trap
of second-guessing what they did or did not do at the time
of a trauma. Many people, in trying to make sense of their
experience, blame themselves.
Problems in relationships with
people: survivors often have a
hard time feeling close to or trusting people. This may
be especially likely to happen when the traumatic event
was caused or worsened by other people (as opposed to an
accident or natural disaster).
Problems with self-esteem:
PTSD symptoms may make it hard for a person to feel good
about him or herself. Sometimes, because of things they
did or did not do at the time of trauma, survivors feel
that they are bad, worthless, stupid, incompetent, evil,
and so on.
Physical health symptoms and
problems: occur during long periods
of physical agitation or arousal from anxiety. Trauma survivors
may also avoid medical care because it reminds them of their
trauma and causes anxiety, which results in even poorer
health.
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