PTSD: How do I Know if I Have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?

If you are asking yourself if you have PTSD, it is probably likely you have experienced a tremendously difficult event or events.

Sometimes, it can be helpful to clarify what the definition of a trauma since it is a word so commonly used in today’s society. The definition of trauma is: an event or series of events in which a person experienced or witnessed a situation causing actual or perceived threat to their personal integrity and caused them to feel intense fear, helplessness, and horror.

These “events” can include many things such as:

physical abuse
sexual abuse and molestation
sexual assault and rape
neglect
torture
car accidents
natural disasters
domestic and community violence
school shooting
terrorism
war
medical conditions
medical interventions

Now just because you may have experienced a “trauma” it doesn’t mean you will have PTSD, although you may have some serious symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Why do some people get PTSD and others don’t?

You may be wondering why someone may experience PTSD and someone may not. There can be many reasons for this.

One risk factor to take into consideration includes whether someone had previous trauma and previous difficulty with stress and mood. If so that person may be more at risk for PTSD.

Another reason that may increase the risk for developing PTSD is the type of responses this person received from family and friends. If your support system was attentive and nurturing in response to the trauma you may be less likely than someone whose support system did not believe, blamed, and punished them instead.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand how you are feeling and what you are doing after surviving a horrible event.

Common symptoms to look for in PTSD

The most common symptoms include:

Being highly anxious: Your nervous system may feel as if you are in a constant state of arousal.
Hypervigilance: You may be constantly scanning your environment and looking for clues to more potential danger. You may feel on edge, like you can’t relax and you may even avoid closing your eyes. You may startle and jump very easily in response to unexpected noises.
Flashbacks: You may be triggered by reminders of the trauma such as time of day, place, scents, or familiar clothing or sounds. These triggers sometimes may be very obvious like driving in a car, or may be less obvious like the scent of an abuser’s cologne. Sometimes a trigger may cause nightmares or a flashback in which you really feel like the event is happening all over again.

Less commonly known PTSD symptoms include: avoidance of talking or thinking about the event, feeling numb, feeling like you have no future, depression, guilt, substance abuse, angry violent outbursts, blunted feelings and difficulty experiencing a range of emotions.

If you have experienced a trauma and have some or many of the above symptoms, please know that you are not alone and you do not need to suffer. Therapy is very helpful at processing these difficult experiences and helping you gain a sense of hope. You can heal and you can live the life you want, while learning from the past and also leaving it behind.

If you need help for dealing with anxiety or PTSD, please contact me on 303-747-4014 for a FREE 10-minute phone consultation to discuss your situation.