by Rush Mckenzie

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: May 28, 2008

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), has various symptoms and treatment options. The symptoms may vary from person to person. Common symptoms include depression, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, nightmares, night-terrors, flashbacks and difficulty in dealing with emotions.

The most widely used treatments include psycho-therapy. Art Therapy is used to assist in expressing feelings in a free flowing manner. Drug-therapy is commonly used. Anti-depressants are utilized for depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances. There are medications that are used to curb anxiety. At times, hospitalization is required.

A person suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can find assistance from their general practitioner or from a psychiatric clinic to begin treatment. They then will hand out all necessary referrals for other resources in the community. In an emergency, going to the closest emergency room will provide the quickest assistance.

Going in for treatment, a client should be prepared to first have an initial assessment done. This most likely will be followed up by a treatment plan of gathering of all resources necessary; such has the therapist and psychiatrist. The client, and family, should expect this to be a stressful time especially due to all the different meetings, and forming solid foundation with the treatment team. The client should expect to start appropriate medication that will have some side effects that will be bothersome. Becoming acquainted with a therapist can be a stressful processes, but is well worth the effort to build a strong working relationship. The client may have mood swings from being depressed to hyper. The client and the family should expect to feel overwhelmed. This is normal, and should be considered has such.

The onslaught of symptoms for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder begins about a month after the traumatic event occurred. Some of the base identifiers of PTSD are depression, anxiety, hyper-vigilance and avoiding social situations. Also, nightmares and night-terrors are common. Flashbacks may occur from an unknown trigger source. Panic attacks that can not be explained, or that do not seem logical are also signs of PTSD. If you, or someone you know are suffering from these symptoms, attending an appropriate physician is the best thing to do. Only they can make an accurate diagnosis and begin the treatment process.

In children, it can be particularly difficult. They may show symptoms such as acting out at school, not doing their homework

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