Post traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD can be found in several different types of people.  It is defined as an anxiety disorder that is heightened when goes through a traumatic event.  Violent personal assaults, natural disasters, accidents, military combat, and other traumatic and stressful situations that may occur all may be a cause of PTSD.  If you have been through one of these acts, you can recognize PTSD through several different occurrences that may go through your mind. 

PTSD is not anything that is limited to an age group or a type of personality.  It is said that over 52 million Americans have PTSD in a given year.  If you have been through an experience that is traumatic in your mind, your brain will react by trying to rebalance the chemicals in your brain and justify the trauma that you have been through.  When you are in a situation that causes fear, there is a rapid response from your body that moves to the amygdala of the brain.  This is supposed to protect you in those fearful situations.  You will also produce opiates, which is used to mask pain.

PTSD will then take these bodily reactions and reuse it through the memories associated with the traumatic event, causing both the reactions from the brain and hormones to be reproduced at the same level.  If you have PTSD, you can recognize it through several mental and physical symptoms.  These symptoms will be diagnosed as PTSD if they last for more than one month. 

The first way in which PTSD can be recognized is through flashbacks occurring.  These may occur when you are sleeping or when you are awake.  Several who have been through a traumatic event may find that something will trigger the event that they went through, such as a situation or a noise.  They will then react by believing they are back in the situation, causing them to take the same actions they did back then.  This is a trigger from the brain to protect them from what they have associated as the traumatic event.  PTSD can take the form of flashbacks while you are awake, memories or nightmares.  Often times, when the date of the event occurs, the person with PTSD will automatically flash back. 

Another part of PTSD is the emotional and psychological attachments of the memories.  Depression, anxiety and uncontrolled anger are a few of the reactions that will occur along with the flashbacks.  These emotions are usually suppressed or uncontrollable in situations where one is reminded of the traumatic situation that they were in.  

Another element of PTSD is the physical reaction that will occur during the flashbacks.  Headaches, immune system problems, dizziness, chest pain, and discomfort in different areas of the body are often a part of PTSD.  If the trauma that you were involved in caused a certain part of your body to have a significant amount of pain, then the anxiety may react physically as well. 

If you think that you may have PTSD, it is a curable symptom.  Therapy to re-live the experiences that were traumatic to you is one way in which you can cure this mental disorder.  Through this reliving, you are able to be in a controlled environment, where you can take back the control which you felt like you lost when living through the traumatic event. 

Another way in which you can treat PTSD is through talking about your experience soon after it happens.  There are several places that will debrief someone after they have been through an experience.  This causes the traumatic experience to not be internalized as much, allowing you to not have to go through the same reactions.  By not allowing the emotions and anxiety from the event to be suppressed, it eliminates some of the PTSD from being given a chance to occur. 

Having PTSD is a natural way for the brain and body to communicate with you about a traumatic situation.  Through flashbacks, mental symptoms and physical problems, you can easily recognized PTSD.  Allowing yourself to get help for PTSD can help you in relieving these symptoms and moving back to a normal life, away from the trauma that occurred. 

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