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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders When dramatic experiences leave deep marks
For many people who have experienced terrible things, the experiences leave their mark. It happens that these mental wounds affect affected persons for a lifetime. In the jargon then a post-traumatic stress disorder is mentioned. Affected people absolutely need professional help.
Posttraumatic stress disorder after traumatic events
If people have experienced terrible things, anxiety disorder and depression can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even if the traumatic event is weeks, months and years ago. "Traumatic events generally include stressful events such as severe accidents, illnesses and natural disasters, as well as experiences of considerable psychological, physical and sexual violence, as well as severe experiences of loss and neglect," writes the German Trauma Foundation.
When people experience bad things, they may experience a post-traumatic stress disorder. Affected then necessarily need professional help. (Image: Osterland / fotolia.com) Affected people need professional help
"Classic examples here are the post-traumatic stress disorder of injured soldiers, refugees, victims of violent crimes or accident victims," say the experts.
That especially refugees are often affected, also showed a study of Syrian children in Bayernkaserne in Munich last year. It turned out that over half of the refugees reached Germany traumatized.
But even in this country, there are many circumstances that can lead to PTSD. For example, British scientists reported that miscarriage in women often leads to post-traumatic stress disorder.
But whatever the cause is, all sufferers need professional help. The news agency dpa reports in a recent report on an affected woman and how she deals with her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"He has just persecuted me"
Years ago, Gisela Huber (name changed) found the lifeless body of a man in a lake. The trained lifeguard spent half an hour alone with the dead man in the water waiting for help. In the end she pulled the corpse to shore with the help of a rope.
But they did not want to let go of the pictures. "He was just following me," she says about the drowned man. According to the agency report, it takes more than four years for her to learn she has a post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I felt responsible and I did not want it to go down again. I know how hard it can be for the family if they can not bury their relatives, "says Huber. The first days after the find had been catastrophic.
Faith in the good is destroyed
"The post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological reaction that can occur after a traumatic experience," said Beate Klofat, psychologist and psychotherapist from Hamburg in the dpa report.
This experience can be either short-lived, like a serious accident, or take longer than a hostage-taking. After man-made traumas such as violence, the risk of PTSD is therefore particularly high. According to the information, up to 65 percent are affected by war experiences.
"It seems that the belief in the good in these people is destroyed," explains Iris Hauth, President of the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Neurology (DGPPN).
Painful memories and nightmares
Perhaps the secreted stress hormones during the experience are a causal factor for a PTSD, because they prevent the experience from being stored correctly. "The memory is still available as raw material, which was not properly packed and labeled. Therefore, fragments repeatedly return as flashbacks, "says Klofat.
The main symptoms are flashbacks as pushing, painful memories and nightmares. It is said that sufferers can not distinguish between the here and now and the past. "They experience flashbacks as if they were back in the traumatic situation," explains Klofat.
Those affected often retire
In addition, sufferers are often tense and can not concentrate. "Often there is social withdrawal and emotional indifference," explains Hauth, who is the medical director of the Alexian St. Joseph Hospital in Berlin-Weißensee.
Gisela Huber, who sought help for years, has found another drowned person in the meantime and saw the body of a man rolled over by the train. Although every experience brought the old trauma back to life, her faith was a support to her. "I had the inner assurance that God will eventually show me the right place to get help."
Religiosity can therefore serve as a protective or supporting factor in a PTSD. Because: "People with a strong social network or those who see a special purpose in life, less likely to develop a PTSD," said Klofat.
Previous crises or pre-existing mental health problems such as depression are, according to Hauth, factors that increase the likelihood of PTSD.
An important element of the therapy is confrontation
It has recently been reported that sleeping can contribute to the processing of traumatic experiences. However, according to dpa, the key element of therapy is confrontation. Avoiding the memories and not talking about them promotes the stage in which the traumatic memories remain unprocessed.
"You can imagine the memories like a pile of clothes. These must first be folded properly in the closet so that they do not fall on you every time you open the closet door, "says Klofat.
No one should be plagued with the trauma for life
"As a relative, it's important to listen, let the person be told and respond to their needs," says Hauth.
Gisela Huber, who at the beginning of her therapy in a special trauma center, had the desire to live again as before the trauma, believes today, six years after the end of her therapy to have managed this.
She works and goes swimming regularly in the lake where she found the body. "I want to encourage everyone to try a therapy. Nobody should spend a lifetime plaguing the trauma. "(Ad)