Trauma and PTSD

Trauma and PTSD

It is inevitable that throughout our lives we will all experience our fair share of stresses, strains and difficult situations. For most of us, recovery from these events will be a natural process which occurs over time, without the need for further help. For others however, certain traumatic and frightening events can trigger a reaction, which can last for a period of months, or even many years.

This reaction is known as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD for short, a condition that manifests both physically and psychologically and is thought to occur in approximately 30% of individuals who experience traumatic events.

PTSD explained

The term PTSD is used to describe a range of symptoms, which occur following the involvement in a traumatic event. These events are considered to be both beyond our control, and outside of our normal human experiences. The event itself could be anything from witnessing a road traffic accident, natural disaster or terrorist attack, through to being the victim of a mugging, or witnessing harrowing scenes whilst serving in the armed forces

Whether you are present during a traumatic event, a witness, or a direct victim, the intense distress and helplessness you felt in the midst of that situation can have a deep and long lasting psychological effect and can trigger a series of symptoms, which can seriously impact your life.

In some individuals the symptoms will develop very shortly after the event, but for others the onset may be delayed by a number of months, or even years after the trauma first occurred.

Some sufferers are not comfortable with the use of the term ‘disorder’ as used in the term ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’, as they consider their reactions to be natural and understandable responses to events that are abnormal, and would thus prefer the use of the term ‘syndrome’. However, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the official medical terminology which is used to describe the condition by organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), and for that reason we will to use the above terminology throughout.

Re-experiencing parts of the trauma

It is quite common for individuals with PTSD to relive parts of the event through vivid flashbacks and nightmares. It may be that something in everyday life such as a sound or image has triggered this response, or this may occur for no identifiable reason. Flashbacks, intrusive images, thoughts and nightmares can be extremely distressing for sufferers as they can make them feel as though the event is happening all over again, even if only for a brief moment.

We strongly believe that your experience is your experience. We will work with you to reduce these feelings what ever they are. We use a combination of Hypnotherapy, V/K dissociation and an adapted form of EMDR. (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing.)

Please contact us for a confidential chat and we will discuss how you may take things forward.