Treatment of PTSD patients

Treatment of PTSD patients

Living with a ghost from the past is no joke; People with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have to battle something like this every day. A distressing experience can really make life difficult. Even though things happened in the past, it will always seem like everything is fresh. You are constantly afraid of finding out what you have done in the past. Some days it seems like what happened in the past never really stopped and continues to haunt you.

Certain sounds, places, and even smells can take you back in time and cause anxiety and panic. In addition, bad dreams, flashbacks, and vivid thoughts of what happened are likely to be present. This can really affect how you live every day and it can get worse. At some point, someone with PTSD will begin to avoid places, become depressed, or have trouble remembering what happened. They also appear to be emotionally distant and have trouble sleeping. It is common for those affected to be constantly on the edge.

The good news for people with this type of anxiety disorder is that there is a way to improve this condition. Treatment for PTSD can now be found in many different forms. The most basic form of treatment you will find is psychotherapy. This mainly involves “talk therapy” where communication is used as the main method. Patients are encouraged to talk about what happened during their stressful experience. They may be asked to retrieve specific details of the event, or they may be asked to relay everything that happened. At this point they may also be asked how they are feeling or what they think about what happened.

Although it may seem like a very simple treatment, talk therapy can be very important as it allows the sufferer to express thoughts and emotions that may have been bottled up. These unspoken feelings can be the source of stress and anxiety for the person. It is a form of debriefing that also allows the person to realize that what happened is already over.

In addition to talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is another form of psychotherapy that can be used to resolve PTSD. This involves a number of different approaches to help the patient. A focus will be cognitive restructuring. This can help patients make sense of their bad dreams and thoughts. If the sufferer feels a fault or embarrassment about what happened, he will learn to look at things realistically and accept what happened. Stress reduction treatments are also taught. The fear experienced may not be easily eliminated, so patients learn to cope with it.

They learn to control their body and its reactions to relieve the symptoms they feel. Finally, exposure therapy is also another approach in CBT. This means that the patient can face his fear directly. They can be brought back to the place to think about or even draw or write about.

In addition to these treatments, common medications may also be administered to relieve anxiety and depression. Prescription medication can be administered by a doctor for a prescribed period of time until the patient can already manage the anxiety on their own. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications are used during this time. Although it can already eliminate symptoms, it is important that the sufferer still learns to deal with PTSD without relying on medication.

PTSD is a real and difficult illness. If you have a friend, a loved one, or even yourself suffering from it, it is important that you get help as quickly as possible. Apart from the mentioned treatments, there are other treatments that can help anyone get over it and get back on their feet to lead a normal life.

Alternative practitioner psychotherapy

The best place to find alternative practitioners psychotherapy is in our free alternative practitioner directory. To view all alternative psychotherapy practitioners, please click here.