Post Traumatic Stress

The most recent scientific evidence suggests that many of the symptoms a person experiences for the

first month after a trauma are normal. These symptoms can include sleep disturbance, decreased

concentration, anxiety, sadness, anger, irritability, hypervigilence, re-experiencing of traumatic events,

and disruptions in social and work related functioning.

Symptoms that persist beyond four weeks following a trauma and that may be indicative of a

post traumatic stress disorder are as follows:

• · Recurrent and intrusive recollections of trauma.
  
• · Recurrent distressing dreams of the trauma.
  
• · Acting or feeling as if the trauma is recurring.
  
• · Intense psychological distress and/or physiological reactivity upon exposure to cues that
  ..resemble the traumatic event.
  
• · Efforts to avoid anything associated with the trauma.
  
• · Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities.
  
• · Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others.
  
• · Difficulty falling or staying asleep.
  
• · Irritability or anger
  
• · Hypervigilance
  
• · Exaggerated startle responses
  
  
  

Exposure therapy and cognitive therapy are two recommended therapies considered effective for PTSD.

Exposure therapy for PTSD involves a gradual and graded confrontation of images and situations

associated with the trauma that are avoided because of the anxiety they elicit. Recent research

establishing the importance of cognitive factors in the development and persistence of PTSD support

Cognitive Therapy approaches for PTSD that test beliefs about the long term effects of the trauma and

that help the person to organize and complete their memory of the trauma. (Ehlers & Clark, 2000.) These

procedures appear to help individuals with PTSD to process and appraise the traumatic experience in a

more integrated and less distressing manner.

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