PTSD Underlying Symptoms Challenged

In this guide, we intend to address every single symptom that PTSD causes you. We want you to know that your condition is not your fault. The people who hurt you are responsible for your suffering. Thus, the first step to getting well is to shift the blame where it belongs.

Steps – Write the names of the people that caused your PTSD. Next step - write out, “They are responsible for my suffering. I am not to blame.”

Now that you have shifted the blame where it belongs, we are going to tackling some of your anxiety attacks head on. Through this article and the next article you will learn some effective techniques that you can incorporate into your daily life to combat your PTSD symptoms.

Anxiety disorders

People commonly experience anxiety, yet their fears will not affect them in the same way that it would affect someone with PTSD. Anxiety disorders are caused from an illness in which unrelenting fears, whether they are imagined or real, cause anxiety attacks to occur.

For some people the anxiety attacks are characterized by unrelenting or chronic attacks. People with PTSD or anxiety disorders tend to organize their life to avoid triggers that remind them of their past experiences. Words, objects, such as pictures or people can trigger these people at any given time.

Anxiety attacks often occur from experiencing phobias, panic attacks, PTSD or OCD. Thus, we must understand phobias to combat anxiety attacks.

Phobias

People with phobias tend to have an extremely strong fear or set of fears. Most people with phobias will take extreme measures to avoid fear-provoking activities, objects or people that cause the strong feelings to emerge. The phobias must be explored because each phobia is different for each person; thus, some people deal with acrophobia, which is the fear of heights while others experience claustrophobia, which is the fear of enclosed spaces. Still others experience Ophidiophobia or the fear of snakes. There are many types of phobias, but the one that targets PTSD patients the most is the fear of being hurt again. This is exactly why people with PTSD will avoid triggers that remind them of their pain.

People with phobias find it difficult to manage daily activities. Experts believe that phobias develop from a past experience that frightened the person or traumatized them. While there is no present threat of danger, the person will cling to that fear, which causes phobia attacks, panic attacks and anxiety attacks.

What are triggers?

Triggers are activating forces from people, places, words, actions, objects, etc. For example, a person may see nudity on television and feel threatened when the flashback occurs that reminds them of a child molestation act or rape that involved naked pictures.

Activity

Think about your phobias and try to see any commonalities. Compare the phobias to find out why they relate.

What about OCD?

Some people with PTSD will develop OCD

OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Some people with PTSD will also develop OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which is a condition that traps the person into a pattern of unremitting thoughts that hinder them from thinking outside of the box or developing other ideas.

Using the thoughts is obsessive and persistent. They recur often and often the person rejects the thoughts. The obsession hinders the person from thinking about other things that may be important to them.

The compulsive activities in the mind at times lead to neurotic behaviors due to uncontrollable and irrational thinking. These feelings of compulsiveness tend to make the person experience urgencies, which may cause panic or anxiety. The behaviors are irresistible and repeated often.

People with OCD often wash their hands 20 or more times daily. They fear germs. Thus, when these functions become a daily routine then it is considered OCD. OCD patients tend to experience panic attacks, as do patients with PTSD.

Panic Attacks

People who experience panic attacks often experience anxiety as well, as the feelings from the attacks interfere with their daily functions. Anxiety and panic attacks or disorders often develop from unnatural fears. When the person experiences a panic attack they find it difficult to overcome the fear that binds them and they often feel upset frequently. When panic attacks hit, there does not necessarily have to be a cause or reason.

Most people who experience panic attacks will tremble from the attack. Their heart may start racing or they may experience shortness of breath. The person may also experience dizziness, a fear of dying or of losing control. Triggers often cause panic attacks to occur. Objects, situations or conditions may trigger the person into a panic attack. In some instances, the panic attacks occur for no apparent reason.

PTSD has many underlying symptoms including the actual symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most people develop PTSD after experiencing a very painful and traumatic event. Often the feelings from those events are severe and the after-effects and repercussion are long-term.

At one time experts thought that men who served in the military in combat were the only people who suffered PTSD. However, they learned later that people who endured rape, natural disasters, brutal attacks, near-death experiences, car accidents, plane crashes, etc could develop PTSD.

People that develop PTSD after a traumatic experience will often develop symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, night sweats, emotional numbness, insomnia, sleep disorders or feelings of guilt. Most people with PTSD will experience symptoms such as extreme actions to words, images, sounds and events, etc that remind them of their traumatic episode(s). Another symptom that develops from PTSD is depression.

Depression

This condition causes feelings of excessive sadness. The person with depression will often feel hopeless and feelings of despair will last for hours or even days. Depression is a serious mental disorder that affects one’s ability to focus and concentrate. Depression affects one's ability to sleep naturally or to complete common tasks, such as work, school assignments, etc. Depression will also affect one’s ability to make decisions and accept common risks.

The causes of depression vary. Someone who drinks alcohol or uses drugs can develop depression. People with PTSD often develop depression because they suffer constantly and most of them will use excessive alcohol to self-medicate their symptoms. Most depressive symptoms are biologically based or hereditary yet people with PTSD often develop depression due to the life events or traumatic episodes they experienced. Depression then develops from stressors and accumulated trauma.

Summary

We have discussed the underlying symptoms caused by PTSD. Some of the symptoms we discussed may not affect you, but for those it does affect take time to use our techniques that will provide to help you conquer PTSD.

Help is available online - use the links below to learn more or to take a test.