Some Common PTSD-Related Questions
What is PTSD?
PTSD stands for posttraumatic stress disorder. It involves exposure to a traumatic event followed by symptoms that continue to impact daily functioning. Three symptom clusters are associated with PTSD: 1.) Re-experiencing symptoms, which involve aversive thoughts, dreams, or distress associated with the event; 2.) Avoidance symptoms, which include attempts to avoid reminders of the event, or feeling emotionally “numb” or disengaged; 3.) Arousal symptoms, which include things like, anger, irritability, insomnia, poor concentration, and guardedness. Approximately 8% of people meet criteria for PTSD sometime during their life. Even if someone doesn’t meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD, they may still be suffering from symptoms which fall just below the cutoff for PTSD but are still be very painful.
Why do some people develop PTSD and not others?
There’s not an easy answer to the question of why someone develops PTSD and someone else does not. There are a lot of other factors, such as trauma severity, younger age, social support, life stressors, childhood abuse, and history of past traumas that increase the risk that someone will develop PTSD following traumatic events. Most of these factors are outside our control.
What is considered a trauma?
According to the official definition of PTSD, trauma is any experience in which people feel their own life or physical well-being or that of someone they know is threatened. This can include childhood abuse, sexual assault, motor vehicle accidents, life threatening illness, death of a loved one, war, terrorism, natural disaster (e.g., fire, earthquake, hurricane, tornado), or some other incident that doesn’t fall into an easy category. Some people feel frightened during the trauma, but it’s not uncommon for others to feel calm or numb during the incident and disturbed afterwards. If it’s something you find yourself frequently thinking about or afraid to think about, you may be traumatized in some way.
If I’ve experienced a trauma, does that mean I have PTSD?
Maybe but maybe not. Many people experience symptoms common to PTSD for days after a traumatic experience, but these may resolve naturally, often within a month. In diagnostic terms, it may be what we call Acute Stress Disorder. Sometimes these symptoms can turn into PTSD. It should be noted that a PTSD diagnosis requires that an individual meet certain criteria and cut-off points; however, many people have symptoms that fall just short of a PTSD diagnosis yet may still be quite distressed and could benefit from treatment. In addition, treatment following a trauma can help prevent the development of PTSD.
I’m not sure if I was traumatized or have PTSD. Do I need or qualify for therapy?
The fact that you're be struggling with these questions suggests that you’re experiencing some sort of distress. Whether there’s an easy label for it is less important. In our first session, I can assess whether you may have PTSD, or whether there may be something else going on; then, we can discuss possible treatment options.
I suffer from nightmares. Can you treat that ?
The clinic I am part of has started a 3-session group for trauma-related nightmares. Read more about it here.
Do you assess PTSD for legal cases?
No, I don’t. Any sort of assessment will be for the purposes of determining treatment only.
