{"id":150038,"date":"2022-07-15T20:59:49","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T00:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/?p=150038"},"modified":"2022-07-15T13:15:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T17:15:33","slug":"the-psychology-of-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-joelle-rabow-maletis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/150038","title":{"rendered":"The psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder – Joelle Rabow Maletis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder - Joelle Rabow Maletis\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b_n9qegR7C4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nMany of us will experience some kind\r\nof trauma during our lifetime. Sometimes, we escape\r\nwith no long-term effects. But for millions of us,\r\nthose experiences linger, causing symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, and negative thoughts\r\nthat interfere with everyday life. This phenomenon,\r\ncalled post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, isn\u2019t a personal failing; rather, it\u2019s a treatable malfunction\r\nof certain biological mechanisms that allow us to cope\r\nwith dangerous experiences. To understand PTSD, we first need to understand how the brain\r\nprocesses a wide range of ordeals, including the death of a loved one, domestic violence, injury or illness, abuse, rape, war, car accidents, and natural disasters. These events can bring on feelings\r\nof anger and helplessness, which activate the brain\u2019s alarm system, known as\r\nthe \u201cfight-flight-freeze\u201d response. When this alarm sounds, the hypothalamic, pituitary,\r\nand adrenal systems, known as the HPA axis, work together to send signals\r\nto the autonomic nervous system. That\u2019s the network that communicates\r\nwith adrenal glands and internal organs to help regulate functions like\r\nheart rate, digestion, and respiration. These signals start a chemical cascade that floods the body with several\r\ndifferent stress hormones, causing physiological changes\r\nthat prepare the body to defend itself.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nOur heart rate speeds up, breathing quickens, and muscles tense. Even after a crisis is over, escalated levels of stress hormones\r\nmay last for days, contributing to jittery feelings, nightmares, and other symptoms. For most people, these experiences\r\ndisappear within a few days to two weeks as their hormone levels stabilize. But a small percentage of those\r\nwho experience trauma have persistent problems \u2014sometimes vanishing temporarily\r\nonly to resurface months later. We don\u2019t completely understand\r\nwhat\u2019s happening in the brain, but one theory is that\r\nthe stress hormone cortisol may be continuously activating\r\nthe \u201cfight-flight-freeze\u201d response while reducing overall brain functioning,\r\nleading to several negative symptoms. These symptoms often fall\r\ninto four categories: intrusive thoughts,\r\nlike dreams and flashbacks, avoiding reminders of the trauma, negative thoughts and feelings,\r\nlike fear, anger, and guilt, and \u201creactive\u201d symptoms like irritability\r\nand difficulty sleeping.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nNot everyone has all these symptoms or experiences them to the same extent\r\nand intensity. When problems last more than a month,\r\nPTSD is often diagnosed. Genetics, ongoing overwhelming stress, and many risk factors\r\nlike preexisting mental illnesses or lack of emotional support, likely play a role in determining\r\nwho will experience PTSD. But the underlying cause\r\nis still a medical mystery. A major challenge of coping\r\nwith PTSD is sensitivity to triggers and physical and emotional stimuli that the brain associates\r\nwith the original trauma. These can be everyday sensations\r\nthat aren\u2019t inherently dangerous but prompt powerful physical\r\nand emotional reactions.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/6551311\/pexels-photo-6551311.jpeg?auto=compress&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;h=650&amp;w=940\" \/>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFor example, the smell of a campfire could evoke the memory of being trapped\r\nin a burning house. For someone with PTSD, that memory activates the same\r\nneurochemical cascade as the original event. That then stirs up the same feelings\r\nof panic and helplessness as if they\u2019re experiencing\r\nthe trauma all over again. Trying to avoid these triggers,\r\nwhich are sometimes unpredictable, can lead to isolation. That can leave people feeling invalidated, ignored, or misunderstood like a pause button has been\r\npushed on their lives while the rest of the world\r\ncontinues around them. But, there are options.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nIf you think you might\r\nbe suffering from PTSD, the first step is an evaluation\r\nwith a mental health professional who can direct you toward\r\nthe many resources available. Psychotherapy can\r\nbe very effective for PTSD, helping patients better\r\nunderstand their triggers. And certain medications\r\ncan make symptoms more manageable, as can self-care practices,\r\nlike mindfulness and regular exercise. What if you notice signs of PTSD\r\nin a friend or family member? Social support, acceptance, and\r\nempathy are key to helping and recovery. Let them know you believe their\r\naccount of what they\u2019re experiencing, and that you don\u2019t blame them\r\nfor their reactions. If they\u2019re open to it, encourage them to seek evaluation\r\nand treatment. PTSD has been called \u201cthe hidden wound\u201d because it comes\r\nwithout outward physical signs. But even if it\u2019s an invisible disorder,\r\nit doesn\u2019t have to be a silent one.\r\n\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b_n9qegR7C4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">As found on YouTube<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jvz4.com\/c\/335985\/306988\">AnimationStudio \ua19b☣\ua415 Be The “Middle Man” And Profit With AnimationStudio Agency License. Here’s How You Can Earn $100, $200, or even $300 For Every Video You Create With AnimationStudio… Activate Your Profit Machine With The Agency License … $197\/month For Just $67 One Time Payment<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Many of us will experience some kind of trauma during our lifetime. Sometimes, we escape with no long-term effects. But for millions of us, those experiences linger, causing symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, and negative thoughts that interfere with everyday life. This phenomenon, called post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, isn\u2019t a personal failing; rather, it\u2019s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/archives\/150038\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The psychology of post-traumatic stress disorder – Joelle Rabow Maletis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3672,532,138,3328,3355,3665,446,6,4792],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","category-climate-change","category-community","category-golf","category-ice-hockey","category-natural-phenomena","category-parents","category-reducing-triggers","category-sports-recreation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/htmlF_IMG_62d173481811c.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150044,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150038\/revisions\/150044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/effectsofanxiety.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}