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Elizabeth Hashagen is talking about PTSD - the warning signs, the risk factors and how you can get help.

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66BeWellPTSDriskFactors_2023-06-06-09-46-25

be Well: The warning signs, risk factors and how to get help for PTSD

June is PTSD Awareness Month. Post Traumatic stress Disorder is brought on after someone is exposed to a traumatic event. And right now, it's estimated that 6% of the US population will have ptsd at some point in their lives. So here to talk about that and our mental health today, psychiatrist Dr Leah Jain. So I guess let's start with some of the signs to look for in someone or in yourself. So PTSD is interesting. It's actually, um, some, someone who has been exposed to trauma or someone who has witnessed trauma or someone who even heard about trauma that's called second hand trauma, which is very, very common. We see it in our first responders, we see it in doctors, nurses, Children whose parents have been traumatized, right? Because a lot of times we associate this with veterans, but if you're a victim of a crime or something, you know, something else traumatic happens to you, you fall into that same category, correct. It could veterans definitely have a very high rate of it and are more susceptible to it for everything that they've witnessed and gone through. But there's also people who are not veterans who are exposed to lots of different types of trauma. Now, if I was trying to identify things that would happen, possibly flashbacks or panic attacks and maybe night sweats. Yeah, a lot of times. So, basically when someone has ptsd, it lasts for at least a month. Um, and so it's not something that's transient. Um, people could have insomnia. Perhaps they're afraid to go to sleep because they aren't afraid of having the nightmares or they so wired that they can't fall asleep. Um There's a lot of anxiety as you can imagine, depression with that as well. So now one of the things, you know, if we do recognize, ok, something's going on here. Um How do, how do you get help? And what kind of help are you looking for? First of all, get help. That's the main thing. First of all, you don't have to live with this alone. There's a lot of people, 12 million people in the country have it. So understand that it isn't a real entity. There's all sorts of interventions, there's therapy, there's cognitive behavioral therapy is a huge, huge job possibility, which is what? So basically, it resets your thinking pattern that causes the distress in your life. There's also individual therapy, family therapy. If that's where the trauma happens to be in. There's also medications because people with ptsd do suffer from anxiety, depression and insomnia and those can be treated with certain medication regimens. Now, if you see someone, you know, who you see is struggling and isn't getting help. What are the things that you can do to try to support them? So, it depends on your relationship with them. If you're close enough with them to say to them, I've noticed that there's a difference, you know, what's going on when we talk about it, the more that you open the conversation, maybe the more willing they'll be open to have the conversation because people, if you don't ask them sometimes don't. Right. And a lot of times if the, if you have a PTSD, you might then also end up having other mental health difficulties. Absolutely. Because as we said, when you have flashbacks, some people have complete amnesia of what happened. You know, and they don't remember because it's self protective, you know, they repress those memory. So sometimes you could be in the middle of work or school and have one of these flashbacks. Um and really not be present. So it could be very disruptive. And, and I, I've heard that a lot of people have these adverse childhood experiences as well. That is like a trigger. We are a product of our childhood, every one of us, some of us are fortunate to have good ones, some of them not so much, but I think the important takeaway is that you don't have to, it's not a life sentence. You can make a change, you can't change what happened in your child, but you could get the help, understand it and improve your adulthood. Ok. So for the people out there who might be struggling right now, what message do you have for them? Get some help. It's out there. People want to help you. Um, you just have to find the resources. I do wonder too. I've heard about this post traumatic growth. Yes. So. Yes. Yes. It's very important because once you tackle the issue, it makes you feel stronger, you know, the expression, whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger. Um, there's something to that but because once you understand why it is that you respond the way you do to your triggers, you're able to handle them and find coping strategies, which helps your self esteem and helps you improve your life quality. And that's, you know, or at least in my experience, some of the people who have these, you know, horrific things happen to them, the loss of a child, but then they start a foundation and they devote their lives to giving back. So they, they take what has happened that is just so horrific and turn it into this opportunity to grow, to be a better person than cells and to help the community around them. Right? Volunteering is often been seen as a very important way of healing. It's interesting you're helping other people, but you're helping yourself just as much because it makes you focus on the bigger picture which is not just the tragedy you had, which you're entitled to be upset about, but also everybody else around you. All right. And do remember if you are struggling with mental health issues, there is a line that you can text that you can call. Help is available.

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