Saturday, September 24, 2011

Insomnia and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)


Post-traumatic Stress Disorder-PTSD has claimed the minds of thousands and has increased since the attack on Americans on September 11. When a person suffers post-traumatic stress disorder, the mind is often in chaos and sleeplessness is ongoing. The person will experience night sweats, nightmares, headaches, anxiety, panic attacks, fear, overwhelming stress, nervous conditions, including insomnia and more when PTSD takes over.

When the mind is unable to find a resting place it overtime causes a person to suffer ongoing disturbances throughout the day hours and night hours. Insomnia alone brings forth symptoms of anxiety, panic attacks, frustration, anger, grogginess, and so on. Thus, when a person has a mental disorder causing the insomnia it triples the problems in the person's life and help is needed in order to help the person cope.

Fighting insomnia for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder patients requires ongoing therapy and proper medications. When a person has Post-traumatic Stress, a qualified counselor must help the person learn to deal with the trauma that caused the stress and work through each trauma by enforcing acceptance. The person over time must learn that it is not his or her fault that the trauma occurred and learn to accept that the person could do nothing to change the event. One of the best tactics for this type of insomnia-based disorder is to bring forth visual transmissions. In other words, allow the person to find a safe haven and then ask the person to step out of the mind for a short time and visualize his or her self in the scene of trauma. The person is to look at the trauma event through a second or third eye, and avoid visualizing his or her self in the scene enduring the trauma. Once the person grasps the event in time, he or she will see that they had no control of the situation and this will gradually ease the mind. During the course of treatment and with time the person should learn to recognize, accept and move forward, thus resting peacefully during night hours.

Other steps can be taking to help a person cope with stress and work toward sleeping peacefully during night hours. Certain medications may help those suffering Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, since the disorder is triggering chemicals in the brain and affecting the central nervous system. Chiropractic treatment, coupled with sedatives that will calm the mind can do wonders for a person and help the person sleep peacefully during night hours.

XANAX is one of the best medicines, coupled with CYPROHEPTADINE, providing a nervous condition that is affecting the skin is involved can do wonders for the mind suffering insomnia as a result of Post-traumatic Stress Disorders. TRAZADONE is also prescribed to patients suffering insomnia from Post-traumatic Stress Disorders. TRAZADONE helps to reduce pain while allowing the person to sleep during night hours. Doctors qualified in treating this particular diagnose that causes chronic insomnia will know which medications benefit the patient most, since each of us differ in our own way.

Again, ongoing therapy is needed for this diagnose that causes ongoing insomnia. Medical doctors can help, but for the most part mental health expertise is required in the treatment of these patients. At one time Post-traumatic Stress Disorder-PTSD was considered to exist on in war survivors, but recently millions are affected by the diagnose every day. Thus, the diagnose once known as "war shock" is claiming minds daily, since any traumatic action, or picture can trigger the mind into shock. In other words, a person can see another person shot and kill an individual and may suffer mild shock as a result, thus this occurrence will bring forth mild symptoms, including insomnia.

If you are suffering chronic or acute insomnia due to symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder-PTSD, it is time to get help now. Since the level of stress is higher in these patients the patients are at a higher risk of heart failure, diabetes, high-blood pressure, strokes, and so forth. Getting help is essential; since you are worth the miles, you will walk to rest peacefully and relax the mind.




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Anxiety Stress Disorder Symptoms and Treatment


To begin with let's state what anxiety really is. Well in simple terms anxiety is a normal reaction to stress which helps one deal with situations at work, study harder for an exam, or even to just keep one focused in doing anything important. In other words it helps one cope. But it is also known that anything in excess is bad and so when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, then it becomes a disabling disorder. There are five major types of anxiety stress disorder:- Generalized Anxiety disorder, Obsessive Compulsive disorder, Panic disorder, Post Traumatic Stress disorder, and Social Phobia.

Anxiety stress disorders have affected nearly one out of every two people in the world causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. It is a condition in which people feel anxious and distressed for no logical reason. People with these disorders may feel chronic, intense and irrational anxiety on a regular or daily basis. As a result quality of life can be seriously diminished.

Anxiety Stress disorders are known to last for many months, even years, and can get worse if they are not treated. It is also seen that anxiety stress disorders mostly occur along with other mental or physical illnesses which just make the situation worse. Causes can also have a relation with the various social conditions such as divorce, unlawful crimes and the general lack of connection to family or society.

However even considering all this, the precise cause for anxiety disorders is really unknown. According to studies completed so far, all the reasons that have been found to give rise to anxiety boil down to a combination of psychological, biological, genetic, environmental factors.

These problems are not just seen in people of a certain age group; in fact, children as well as adults face these problems. Adolescents and children seem to feel these problems even more than adults. A recent study has also shown that anxiety stress disorders are twice as common in girls as among boys. The high rate of female vulnerability to anxiety is seen to begin at the tender age of six. Females are also more prone to depression, which is quite similar to anxiety in some ways and often goes hand in hand with it.

There are several effective treatments for people suffering from exhibiting anxiety order symptoms. In many cases a combination of psychotherapy and medicines are the best treatment. But specific treatments given to people suffering from anxiety depends on the intensity of the problem and even the person's choice of treatment. Medicines alone will not cure anxiety disorders, but it can keep anxiety order symptoms under control while a person receives psychotherapy treatment.




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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - What are the Symptoms?


During World War Two, a strange phenomenon called "Battle Fatigue" affected many veterans after they returned home from combat zones in Europe and the Pacific. Today, we know this condition to be "post traumatic stress disorder". Back then, returning veterans didn't talk about it, because discussing these worrisome symptoms suggested weakness or cowardice.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a medical disorder that can occur to anyone after experiencing an extremely stressful situation. Soldiers aren't the only ones to suffer from this condition. Natural disaster survivors, as well as those who have experienced and survived attacks and accidents, also suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. More than 5 million adults are affected by this disorder every year. Twice as many women are affected than men. Post traumatic stress disorder wasn't even understood until the 1970's. Many sufferers were diagnosed as having stress or battle fatigue, given medication and sent home. After the recent involvement of the United States military personnel in the Middle East and Iraq, the condition has grown more common.

A victim may experience one of many symptoms: A flashback or nightmare. Reaction to situations or events that trigger a powerful emotional or physical response. A feeling of detachment, loss of interest in activities or a lack of positive emotion. Avoidance of anything (activities, people or situations) associated with the trauma. Difficulty sleeping, irritability and exaggerated responses to being startled.

Many people exhibit roller coaster feelings or emotions after a traumatic experience, but for most, such symptoms normally fade after a few weeks. Nevertheless, recognizing the early signs and symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder is important, as it can incur long-lasting consequences for those who suffer from it. Physiological changes that occur in victims have a brutal affect on both neurobiological functions such as memory, as well as fear-response reactions. Seeping habits and the ability to deal with any stress can be disrupted. Physical complaints can range from headaches, to immune system disruption, debilitating pain, and in some cases, asthma.

Depression and a sense of growing anxiety can lead to phobias, panic attacks and behavioral changes. If you feel that someone you know is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, it's extremely important that he or she get help. It will not go away by itself. Anyone who has been diagnosed and is trying to recover needs the help of family, friends and medical personnel to combat this invisible, yet debilitating condition. Post traumatic stress disorder is not in the victim's head, and should be taken very seriously.




Linda Woods is a freelance writer and radio talk show host with a focus on healing, self-help and empowerment. Intention is everything. Set your intention to heal. Get the latest information about stress relief at http://www.saygoodbyetostress.com Check out our post traumatic stress disorder pages




Friday, September 23, 2011

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - Pathway to the Development of PTSD


Psychologists define trauma on two parameters. Firstly, this is an event that is different from daily life events and experiences. Secondly, this is the event that has the potential to induce distress in almost all people. Traumas main include severe accidents, exposure to death and injury, wars etc. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the long term after effect of any traumatic situation. Traumas may also produce short term effects. These short-term after effects constitute a separate entity of acute traumatic stress disorder. PTSD develops from those traumatic events in which people face threats to physical security, and they are exposed to serious injury or death.

Till now, we have talked about the effects of threatening events and their resulting disorder. Now, I will explain how a person feels while he is suffering from traumatic effects. There are various symptoms that appear in an individual during the course of the disorder. When a person faces an incident with an exposure to death, the very first feeling that appears in an individual is that of helplessness. An adult or child may feel horror. This horror may express itself in the form of aggressive behavior. People may become aggressive after traumatic events when they think about their lack of control over the situation. There are some other symptoms that appear among individuals after exposure to a trauma. There are three other symptoms:

1) Re-experiencing the traumatic events. These are the symptoms in which a person re-experiences the traumatic event through recollections related to that event, distressing dreams, acting as the event is happening again and physiological arousal to reminders of the event.

2) Avoidance of trauma related stimuli. These symptoms appear when an individual tries to avoid all the things that remind him of the particular event. The person starts avoiding the thoughts and activities that remind him of the traumatic event. Moreover, an individual may become aloof, and may not take part in the activities which were pleasurable for him before the event.

3) Symptoms of increased arousal. An individual, who has experienced a traumatic event, may feel aroused that is, he feel difficulty in falling asleep, irritation and aggression, lack of concentration and hypervigilance.

Diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will be given when an individual will experience these symptoms for more than one month, and these symptoms will create disturbances in normal functioning of the routine life. Sometimes, it happens that people do not meet the full criteria of the disorder, but still they feel distress that disturbs their daily functioning. Moreover, this disorder appears in combination with depression, generalized anxiety and stress after traumatic events. It is also important point that exposure of traumatic events through media and even listening about traumatic events can produce stressful reactions in an individuals. But in such cases, traumatic events have a lot of potential to induce distress in their listeners.

If there will be more exposure of individuals to local riots, internal armed conflicts and war, then there will be higher prevalence rates of the disorder in that country. During natural disasters, youngsters are automatically exposed to threatening conditions, but under normal circumstances, care must be taken to avoid children's exposure to news and magazines that contain dreadful pictures of the disasters. If we take care in case of children, we will be able to prevent them from post traumatic stress disorder.




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Anxiety Stress Disorder Information


Anxiety stress disorder is the name given to a group of mental conditions where a person's life is disrupted by persistent, excessive, and unreasonable fears, worries or anxiety. The anxiety stress disorder categories that are recognised are: generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social disorder, post-traumatic disorder and specific phobias.

Generalised anxiety disorder, as the name suggests, exists where a person's tolerance to the stress of life becomes overloaded to the point where they cannot cope adequately and start to show symptoms of dysfunction. There may be a build up of stressful situations in a person's life - the worry of a sick family member, financial problems, or such like, and, eventually there comes a point where one more problem is enough to push that person over the edge into an anxiety disorder situation.

The symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder usually comprise several of the following: feeling nervous and irritable, difficulty sleeping, headaches, abdominal pains or diarrhoea, depression, feeling tired all the time, apathy, tightness in the chest, dry mouth, shortness of breath, lack of self-confidence, and not wanting to see friends. Anybody suffering from several of these symptoms should see their doctor for some advice.

Panic disorder often seems to occur against a backdrop of general anxiety and is characterised by sudden, unexpected bouts of extreme fear and panic for no obvious reason. These attacks can occur at any time, even during sleep at night, and can be very disturbing. When an attack occurs there is a rush of adrenaline as the body automatically and mistakenly, goes into emergency mode causing a rapid increase in heart rate and breathing. This is followed by extreme feelings of fear and doom along with other symptoms such as dizziness, tightness in the chest, headache, blurred vision, nausea, and unsteadiness. Sometimes these symptoms can be misinterpreted as a heart attack causing even more anxiety.

Panic attacks are not serious in themselves but are to be taken seriously because of the disruption to a person's daily life that they can cause. Self-help or the treatment by a professional can usually overcome them within a reasonable amount of time.

Obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder is characterised by persistent disturbing thoughts or obsessions. These notions have no connection with reality and often the sufferer does not know where they come from. In an attempt to expunge these thoughts, or sometimes images, the person adopts a compulsive behaviour, undertaking unnecessary repetitive tasks or unusual ritual movements or practices seemingly to distract the mind,.

Social disorder or social phobia is an excessive anxiety about mixing in social circumstances. A person fears that he or she will act in a way that will be humiliating or embarrassing. Sometimes the person thinks that they are being continually scrutinised or judged. They often recognise that their fears are irrational yet seem unable to overcome them without some form of help or counselling.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a situation where a heightened degree of anxiety remains following a traumatic event. This event or disaster is serious enough that life is threatened or actually lost. A car crash or terror attack can cause sufficient emotional upset that the event is revisited in the mind for a long time afterwards, causing a degree of anxiety that upsets a person's normal life. The condition can be satisfactorily overcome with the correct form of psychotherapy.




Will Mcardle is a sufferer of Anxiety and Panic Disorder and his aim is to help fellow sufferers beat panic attacks. To learn more about anxiety stress disorder [http://www.infoforpanicattacks.com/anxiety-disorder-treatment] treatment and about panic attacks in general visit [http://www.infoforpanicattacks.com].




Thursday, September 22, 2011

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and How it Can Effect Sleep


Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that is induced in an individual after they have suffered from an experience that is psychologically traumatizing. Often associated with soldiers and returning vets, thought of as "shell shock" in the past, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not isolated to just participants or victims of war.

The types of events that can trigger the onset of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can include physical, life threatening injuries, witnessing loss of life particularly that of a friend of loved one, near death experiences, threats to your own life or to the life or well being of another, or extreme emotionally terrifying or traumatizing episodes such as becoming a hostage, being abused or tortured, etc., and traumatic episodes such as a near fatal car crash or explosion. Unfortunately, these types of events are not isolated only to war zones which means that anyone may suffer from PTSD even in the civilian population.

Like most anxiety and stress related disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder interferes with a patients sleep habits. In fact, the inability to fall asleep, difficulty sleeping through the night and reoccurring nightmares are some of the bench mark symptoms.

The physical problems that are associated with the disorder including pain that can be light or severe and chronic, trouble with the stomach and digestive system, and headaches can also make sleeping difficult. Flashbacks and reoccurring thoughts can also make it difficult for you to switch your mind off of the memories of the traumatic event and make it difficult to shut your brain down so that you can fall asleep.

Hearing things can also interfere with a full nights sleep since patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are often hyper alert to their surroundings making any background noise, such as a tv or radio, a distraction making it hard for you to fall asleep or can wake you up in the middle of the night.

For some patients, they are able to deal with this through therapy and using meditation and other stress relieving techniques, natural herbal aids such as chamomile tea, and aromatherapy used as essential oils or in sleep aiding sprays can help them relax and get a good night's sleep.

For other patients, more severe treatments are required which may involve intense psychotherapy or even medication. So if you or a loved one is suffering from the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder speak to your care giver right away to explore the best options for you.




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Is Your Partner's Post - Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Getting You Down?


If your partner has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, you might feel as if you're suddenly living with a stranger. PTSD has defining symptoms that result in behaviors by the sufferer that can be troublesome not only to him or her, but to you as the partner. As a result, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms can impact your relationship.

While you undoubtedly want to support your partner in getting the treatment needed for those PTSD symptoms, you might nonetheless find it difficult to remain motivated to do so because the changes in your loved one's behavior are getting you down. How do you keep feeling cheerful about helping your partner when your loved one is irritable and slinging verbal abuse your way fairly regularly, for instance? How do you keep being cheerful about helping your partner when your loved one refuses to do practically anything with you anymore? In fact, you may be angry or depressed because you suddenly face an essentially sexless marriage.

Remind Yourself It's about the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

If you suspect that anger or depression is about to get the best of you, you might have to stop and remind yourself that it's really the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that's talking here, not your partner. Indeed, remind yourself that your PTSD-impacted loved one might not want to go anyplace anymore because of fear of having a flashback. A flashback, one of the symptoms of PTSD, causes your loved one to essentially relive the traumatic event. A wounded warrior, for example, who hears a car backfire may suddenly believe that he is back in the war zone again where an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) has just gone off. Thus, just as in the war zone he might have jumped on top of a fellow soldier to push him to safety, he might do the same to you while people on the street stop, stand there, and stare.

When you think about a flashback this way, you can better appreciate why it is something your partner wants to avoid, wouldn't you agree? But there is more to it than that. When a flashback is triggered by something that the brain perceives as reminiscent of the trauma that caused the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder initially, the PTSD sufferer relives all the painful emotions of that time, sees the disturbing visual images, smells the obnoxious smells, hears all the sounds--or experiences the painful or horrific traumatic event again mentally in its entirety.

Now can you better appreciate why your PTSD-suffering partner might want to remain home along instead of walking into congested places by your side? Remember, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder victim has no idea as to what in the environment might be viewed by his or her brain as reminiscent of the traumatic event. It might be a sound your loved one has no conscious awareness of hearing at the time. But since the brain has all such memories stored, this one memory that is associated with all the other memories of the traumatic event will be triggered. In turn, then, so will all the others.

Certainly, a flashback can be triggered in the home. Nevertheless, at least there, your loved one doesn't have to worry about the shocked reaction of strangers-or what he or she might be putting you through publicly.

Wondering What PTSD Symptom can Result in a Sexless Marriage?

Are you wondering what PTSD symptom might be having a negative influence on your sex life? If your partner is a woman who experienced sexual assault in the form of rape, she might be fearful that being sexual with you will trigger a horrific flashback. Then again, if your partner is that warrior wounded by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, let's say, he might well be experiencing another PTSD symptom known as emotional numbing. As a result, he may be fearful he'll experience erectile difficulties-not uncommon in male Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferers. Of course, you might be troubled because he not only wants to forego sex, but he might want to avoid any kissing or caressing. Why is that? Because of his fear that if touches you in loving ways, you may become desirous of having sex. As a result, he avoids touching you at all.

Again, if you've been viewing your loved one's refusal to become intimate as personal rejection, could you think about what has been happening differently? Remind yourself that your partner undoubtedly doesn't want to set himself up to disappoint you. Recognizing this, you may discover you suddenly feel comfortable gently opening a conversation where you can demonstrate that you have some understanding of what is happening. Then, you might suggest that the two of you strive to come up with one or more solutions that better addresses the needs of the two you. Of course, if this seems to be making your partner feel stressed out or your loved one seems incapable of having such a discussion currently, you might decide it is necessary to back off for the time being-at least until your partner can get his PTSD symptoms under better control. Perhaps once this has happened, you might want once again to strive to find ways to move from this essentially sexless marriage where enjoy a desired level of intimacy.

Managing Your Disappointment Benefits Your "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Relationship"

If you can hide your disappointment when your partner once again lets you down because of behaviors undoubtedly driven by PTSD symptoms, you will be helping to minimize the amount of stress your loved one feels. This is a good thing because when the PTSD sufferer feels more relaxed, troublesome Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms are less apt to occur. However, even if they do, they'll likely be of a weaker magnitude than they would have been otherwise.

As your loved one's PTSD symptoms ease off, you'll likely feel less stressed out as well, don't you imagine? Your depression should begin to lift. Your anger may start to dissipate. While your partner may never return to the person he or she was before developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, you may find that you are better able to cope with what the PTSD symptoms have tossed your way. Wouldn't that be a great thing--and merely because you changed your own thinking? Because you choose to perceive things differently?

You might always continue to prefer that circumstances were different with regard to your "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder relationship." Still, as you grow more accepting of the realities you face-of what is-there can be a sense of accomplishment and good feelings that come from that. You might even prefer aspects of yourself that the experience of living with a partner with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder caused to develop.




Diane England, Ph.D. is the author of a self-help book designated by the "Library Journal" as one of the "BEST BOOKS OF 2009." In fact, "The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Relationship: How to Support Your Partner and Keep Your Relationship Healthy" was one of only three self-help books to make their list. While this licensed clinical social worker, with other degrees in family studies and child development as well, offers information and tools for those struggling with relationships harmed by PTSD, previously Diane England wrote articles on topics such as his narcissism, addictions, and abuse and her likely codependency and recovery via personal development and spiritual growth. Diane England sincerely hopes you will check out her book even if it would not benefit you personally-so you might make others aware of it. After all, you never know who may be suffering silently and needlessly. Also, with PTSD associated with a higher risk of suicide, you could be offering a PTSD-impacted couple a life preserver without even knowing it, don't you imagine? To learn more, visit http://www.DrDianeEngland.com or http://www.NarcissismAddictionsAbuse.com