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Checklist: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
People struggling with PTSD develop symptoms after experiencing a traumatic event in which their lives were at risk, such as accidents, war, rape, crime, natural disasters, and other similar events. Or, their symptoms developed after they witnessed or experienced an event in which someone else’s life was at risk.
People who are diagnosed with PTSD experience three different types of symptoms:
1. Reliving or reexperiencing the traumatic event
2. Avoiding situations, thoughts, and activating events related to the trauma
3. Experiencing increased distress levels as a result of the trauma
PTSD is diagnosed when a person has experienced these symptoms for longer than one month. If a person experiences these symptoms immediately after a trauma or for less than one month, a diagnosis of acute stress disorder would be made. Acute stress disorder shares many of the same symptoms as PTSD and the treatment is often similar.
These symptoms greatly interfere with a person’s life:
Having recurring thoughts, memories, or dreams about the event
Having recurring thoughts, memories, or dreams about the event
Experiencing physical, emotional, or psychological distress when you see or hear things that remind you of the event
Avoiding thoughts, emotions, or conversations related to the trauma
Avoiding people, places, or events that might trigger memories of the traum
Avoiding activities that the person enjoyed or participated in before the trauma
Avoiding certain emotions, especially pleasant emotions
Avoid thinking about or planning for the future, often due to the thought that life won’t last very long
Inexplicable avoidance of memories related to the trauma
Feeling easily annoyed or angry
Being unable to sleep soundly or comfortably
Being unable to think clearly
Feeling constantly alert, as if waiting for something to happen
Being easily startled or frightened
This creates a private checklist in your account.