POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder develops after someone is exposed to an extremely traumatic event and they react to the event with intense fear, horror or helplessness.

Such traumatic events include:

  • War
  • Torture
  • Rape
  • Child sexual or physical assault
  • Physical assault
  • Being kidnapped
  • Terrorism
  • A natural disaster (e.g. a bushfire, flood or cyclone)
  • A major car accident
  • Being diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness e.g. cancer
  • Finding the body of someone who has committed suicide or been murdered

    • The Intrusive Symptoms include:

  • Distressing thoughts or images
  • Nightmares about the event
  • Feeling or acting as if the traumatic event were reoccurring
  • Intense psychological distress when exposed to something that triggers memories of the traumatic event
  • Physical symptoms such as sweating, muscle tension and rapid heartbeat when exposed to things that trigger memories of the traumatic event

    • It is common for PTSD sufferers to have other psychological disorders as well. The most common mental conditions accompanying PTSD include: drug & alcohol issues, depression, social anxiety, panic and/or agoraphobia, generalised anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar mood disorder.

    Treatment for PTSD in adults using Hypnotherapy involves a number of phases, including:

  • Education and information
  • Learning how to manage anxiety, anger and depression
  • Exposure therapy where the sufferer confronts feared situations and memories
  • Cognitive therapy- where unhelpful, irrational thoughts and beliefs are replaced with more rational ones
  • Relapse prevention