Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition, and its symptoms, often described as "toxic traits" when they negatively affect a person's life and relationships, are responses to overwhelming trauma. These traits stem from the brain and body's natural survival mechanisms going into overdrive even when no longer in immediate danger.
Some of the responses to avoid saying to someone with PTSD include:
intense distress at real or symbolic reminders of the trauma. physical sensations such as pain, sweating, nausea or trembling.
The damage is an altered sense of self to this negative lens, a constant and exhausting hypervigilance, an inability to fully trust people and connect with people, a feeling of near-constant dread, the worry that this will continue affect the people I love, and so much more.
Conclusion. Overall, PE, CPT and EMDR are the most highly recommended treatments for PTSD and have strong evidence bases. Components of these treatments have been combined with other interventions, with no support for improved benefits over the standard treatments alone.
Common Triggers of PTSD
When our brain then recognises similarities between our present situation and our past trauma (e.g. a colour, smell or noise), it can activate the fight, flight, freeze, flop or friend response, even if we're not currently in danger.
The symptoms of complex PTSD are similar to symptoms of PTSD, but may also include:
Yes, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) can be recognised as a disability in Australia if it leads to a psychosocial disability that meets the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) access criteria.
Acute stress disorder is a more severe form of PTSD and is characterised by panic reactions, cognitive issues, dissociation, insomnia, distrust, and the inability to maintain basic self-care, work and relationships.
Unexpected physical symptoms of PTSD
Trauma occurs when a person experiences a forceful blow to the head, causing the brain to rush within the skull. This movement can damage brain cells and disrupt the brain's normal functioning, leading to vomiting. The fluid buildup in the brain can also trigger nausea and vomiting.
Physical Sensations
Tremors or Shaking: These involuntary movements can occur as the body releases stored energy associated with traumatic experiences. Tingling or Warmth: You may feel tingling sensations or warmth in certain areas of your body as trauma is processed and released.
10 ways to relax when you have PTSD
Trauma survivors with PTSD may have trouble with their close family relationships or friendships. The symptoms of PTSD can cause problems with trust, closeness, communication, and problem solving. These problems may affect the way the survivor acts with others.
Oversharing can be a trauma response as a way to seek connection, create feelings of intimacy, or protect yourself by pushing people away. It's a part of the fawn response, in which you over-disclose to appease others and avoid rejection, conflict, or harm.
Pete Walker's “Complex Trauma: From Surviving to Thriving,” explores the four F's of complex trauma, fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, to help survivors understand their coping mechanisms and reactions, and begin to work towards actions that may better serve them in their life and relationships.
High-Risk Professions
Symptoms vary, but they usually include reliving the trauma through flashbacks or nightmares, and avoiding reminders of the event. Emotional numbness and heightened arousal like irritability or insomnia are also common.
These symptoms include hallucinations, such as hearing voices or seeing things that aren't there, delusions, and disorganized thinking. In the context of PTSD psychosis, these positive symptoms often arise in response to trauma, amplifying feelings of fear, paranoia, and distress.
Medication for CPTSD
They may be impulsive, acting before they think. Aggressive behaviors also include complaining, "backstabbing," being late or doing a poor job on purpose, self-blame, or even self-injury. Many people with PTSD only use aggressive responses to threat.
With flop trauma response, a person becomes physically or mentally unresponsive — sort of similar to how an animal will play dead when they feel threatened. Flopping potentially reduces the mental and/or physical impact of trauma.
A bottom-up therapeutic approach helps survivors acquire new coping skills to manage overwhelming emotions effectively. Without learning to safely experience and process feelings in the body, trauma cannot be fully addressed.