How do you recognize trauma in yourself or a family member or friend, and how can you give or seek help?
A traumatic event can have a profound impact on your life and often on friends and family. How do you recognize trauma in yourself or a family member or friend and how can you give or seek help?
What symptoms does a person with PTSD experience?
In most cases, the symptoms of someone with PTSD interfere with normal functioning in daily life. If, as a physician, you receive a client with suspected PTSD at the consultation, there are a number of factors to watch out for. The following complaints are most often reported:
- Feelings of fear, tension and agitation;
- Reliving the traumatic event in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, or recurrent vivid memories of the event;
- Avoiding situations related to the traumatic event;
- Gloominess, anger, feelings of guilt and shame;
- Irritability and increased vigilance;
- Trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, being skittish and having a short fuse.
Reassuring people does not help in this case. Talking through the event in detail does not help either. A listening ear and understanding is pleasant for the client, but for processing a trauma professional help is needed.
Advice for people with PTSD
If you recognize yourself in the above symptoms, it is possible that you yourself have developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
Distraction & processing trauma
To deal with the memories of the event in the short term, distraction seeking can be very helpful. Especially do tasks that strongly distract your mind, such as doing puzzles, listening to music, but physical exertion that requires you to coordinate can also be helpful. In addition, taking rest, talking about it with people in your familiar surroundings and allowing the painful feelings to come through can provide relief.
Trauma treatment
If after a week the symptoms have not diminished, a doctor can be consulted. At this consultation, you state what happened and what the symptoms are. The doctor can then recognize that it is PTSD and possibly refer you for trauma treatment.
Advice for family members and friends of someone with PTSD
When someone close to you has developed PTSD, there are a number of things you can do. First, take the person seriously in his or her symptoms and listen to the story in a non-sensational way. In doing so, also show understanding and recognition for what has happened to him or her. This is important not only during the first week, but sometimes for months afterward. You can also offer practical help without patronizing and make sure that the person involved takes adequate rest. However, do not give unsolicited advice and do not try to ease the suffering by saying that others are worse off. The person involved must go through their own coping process.
After treatment back to daily life
During treatment at the U-center treatment center, we already consider how to proceed after inpatient treatment. As far as the PTSD is concerned, many of the symptoms will have subsided, so daily functioning can be resumed at a leisurely pace. Perhaps some questions remain, such as "why did this happen to me?" or, for example, in the case of work-related PTSD "do I still want to return to my current job?". These are questions that can perhaps be further addressed with a counselor or coach in your own region.
Relapse after trauma treatment
It may happen that you leave the clinic symptom-free, but after a few months you are suddenly confronted with a poignant event again. It is possible that then the nightmares and poor sleep will temporarily return. By keeping your calm and structure and allowing the painful feelings to come in, these symptoms will also quickly subside again. Think of a healed wound that you pop open again; it will bleed for a while but then heal again.
About the author:
Marja Schouten, GZ psychologist, supervisor VGCt and European Practitioner EMDR. Working within U-Center as senior trauma therapist, trauma treatment coordinator.