Hey everyone.
Today I'm going to talk with you about PTSD,
Or, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
What is it?
And what are our treatment options?
So like I said,
Today I'm going to talk with you about PTSD.
Now, obviously, since this is a diagnosis,
I'm going to read it from my DSM.
And there is a lot of diagnostic criteria,
So, what I'm going to do,
Is give you kind of a short synopsis of what it is.
Now, PTSD is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
And it's exactly like what it sounds.
It's post, after.
A traumatic event.
And it's a stress disorder.
So it continues on.
Now, the following criteria apply to adults, adolescents,
And children older than six years old.
Okay.
Now there are, like I said, there's a ton of things.
But I'm just going to go through them as quickly and as clearly as possible.
The first is,
That you have to have exposure to an actual or threatened death,
Serious injury, or sexual violence, in one or more of the following ways.
It says like, you either directly experience it,
You witness it in person,
You learn that the traumatic event occurred close to a family member,
Or close to where you were.
Or you experienced repeated extreme exposure to adversity tales of a traumatic event,
Like a first responder to a horrific situation.
Any of those ways is how you can be expose to a trauma.
Now, in my experience clinically,
Now this is diagnostically speaking,
Right, we're using the DSM,
Clinically, I would say that it's a little more grey than that.
And a lot of people may experience trauma differently,
And it can be life threatening.
Now the second is,
You have to have presence of one or more of the following intrusive symptoms,
Like, having flashbacks and things like that.
Also dissociative reactions, that's another option that they give.
Like I said, there are a ton of these,
So I'm just kind of giving you a high overview of what it is.
Now the next is persistence avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event.
Like people, lets say they witness somebody killing themselves jumping off a bridge,
They wont go on any bridges ever for the longest time.
Because it really, you know, reminds them of the traumatic event.
And it's very stressful and can also trigger some flashbacks.
There is also negative alterations in cognitions,
And mood associated with the traumatic event,
Like they wont be able to remember specifics.
A lot of people struggle to remember what really happened.
They say that the duration has to be at least one month,
And it has to have, and all disorders have this,
But it has to have clinically significant distress or impairment,
In social or occupational or important areas of functioning.
If I had to read that one more time,
That is in every diagnosis.
That it has to, you know, somehow affect our ability to function in our daily life.
That's obvious, right.
So that, diagnostically speaking,
Is what PTSD is.
The treatment is just like any other stress disorder, or any anxiety disorder.
But there is a trauma focused CBT option for those of us who struggle with PTSD.
And a lot of it,
I just made some notes here so I don't forget.
They say that what they do during this,
Because I do not specialize in trauma based CBT.
That they gradually expose you to thoughts, feelings, and situations,
That remind you of the trauma.
Then there's also family therapy.
Which I cannot emphasize enough in general.
PTSD or any mental illness,
Does not just affect you.
For them to know what you're going through,
And knowing what you're working on,
And them to be working on things too,
Can create a much better and more healthy,
And just communicative family situation.
Also, medication.
And I know a lot of you are like,
'I don't want to take medication, and everybody always says medication.'
But medication is something that is often prescribed for those with PTSD,
Because they also suffer from anxiety and depression on top of the PTSD symptoms.
We know that PTSD leads to a lot of other issues.
And so medication can help with those.
And the last is EMDR.
And for many of you, you have asked me to do a video about this.
But I'm just going to shortly tell you what it is.
It's Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
You follow someone's finger as they have you talk about the traumatic event.
And they try to kind of reprogram the way that your brain thinks about it,
And help you heal from the trauma.
So just remember,
That if you think you're struggling with PTSD,
If you think you've been in a traumatic situation,
Please see a professional and get properly diagnosed.
And know that there are many treatment options.
You're not alone.
This isn't going to go on forever.
This is something that you can overcome.
Don't underestimate your own strength.
You can do this.
And please share this video.
Like it if you like this content, if you want more information about PTSD.
Share your experiences below,
Because our community is growing.
And we are supporting each other,
Sharing experiences,
Sharing what's worked,
Sharing what treatment options were best for you,
Because together we are so much stronger,
Than me just standing on my own making videos in my apartment like a weirdo.
So share this.
Work together with me,
Towards a healthy mind, and a healthy body.
[Bottom left video]
And you can get into it so you can start verbalizing those thoughts,
And you can start changing them,
And turning them into kind of 'more positive' or 'healthy voice'.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community