Dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post traumatic stress disorder can be a very daunting condition, as it leaves the one who suffers in a permanent state of anxiety. This disorder occurs after one has been placed in a highly stressful situation, and as a result the fear from that experience has remained with him/her, even after the danger has passed.
These people will often be in a very tense situation, “looking over their shoulders”, trying to identify the potential threat. Their lives often have to suffer because of it, as they are unable to do anything in the proper manner, because of the fear. A person who has survived and earthquake will most likely stay most of the night awake, because he is afraid that an earthquake will occur once more. A soldier who has returned from the battle will most likely constantly remember about the horrors he has seen in the war, being unable to focus on many of his daily activities. Fortunately, there are some people who manage to deal with their condition, and who are able to live a normal life. The disorder is still present, but they manage to work with it, and to keep its effects under control. Robin Hutchins, 25, is one of the people who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, and who has managed to keep it under control.
She looks just like any other young women of her age, being confident, being sure of her, and having a very high self-esteem. No one would guess that she suffers from stress disorder by looking at her, and the truth is that she had no idea that she suffered from it until the psychologists told her. She stated that she has to convince people that she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, as she does not have the signs which might indicate it. As I said, in most of the cases, the disorder is triggered when one witnesses something really shocking, or when something shocking happens to him/her. Things such as wars, murders, rapes, and so on, these are the events which are associated most often with the stress disorder. Dr. Frank Ochberg, who is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University has stated that it has become more and more common for people to suffer from it because of traffic accidents.
People who were involved in a car accident or who witnessed it have high chances of suffering from it, according to Dr. Ochberg. That was not the situation in the case of Ms. Hutchinson, but it was sexual violence, which is another big event which might trigger the disorder. When she was in college, she had a broken leg. She was raped by one of her friends inside her room, as she could not run away, and he stopped her from screaming. What makes her story incredible is the fact that she returned to college, as she wanted to be a student just like the other ones. She did not tell her parents about the incident, and she did not tell her friends about it. She acted in the most natural way, and no one suspected a thing. She said that you need to get over whatever happens to you, because that is the best thing you can do. Everything went fine, until one night when a drunken student pinned her to the wall. That was the moment which triggered the disorder, as during that moment she realized what happened to her.
The incident was minor, as the drunken student would have done nothing to her. After that incident she did not go to classes anymore, and she stood in her room most of the time. Instead of getting help, she believed that the best thing for her would be to leave college. She considered the college to be the most dangerous place for her. She decided to travel to Mongolia in order to live a peaceful life for a while, but while she was driving she had a car accident. That made things worse. While she was still in college, during her period of solitude, none of her friends helped her. They had no idea what was wring with her, and they believed that it was simply a phase. They told her that everything will be fine, that she has nothing to worry about, and so on. She suffered a lot, as the anxiety continued for years. She could not sleep for numerous nights, and when she had to go to the store in order to buy something it took her hours until she finally got out of the apartment.
She went to numerous psychologists, but she said that most of them did not help her. They simply told her that she has nothing to worry about, and that was it. She admitted that there might have been better psychologists she could have attended, but she did not have the money for them. One of them did help her, and he was the one who told her that she suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, words which changed her life. Dr. Ochberg stated that 80 percent of the people who are raped develop post traumatic stress disorder. He said that the disorder is rarely found because most of the psychologists focus on the stigma associated with the rape. They believe that the person is behaving in that manner because she has been raped, and because she does not want the people to find out about it.
Ms. Hutchinson was glad when that particular psychologist told her what she had, because that meant that she could start the healing process. She said that the periods prior to that one were very difficult, as she behaved in a very strange manner, and no one could tell her why. She was a healthy young student who ended up staying indoors most of the times, and who was afraid of most of the people, even of her friends. Dr. Ochberg said that the second incident, the one with the drunken student triggered her memories which she kept hidden in her mind. He also stated that in the case of the memories one can not set a time limit. If something bad happened years ago, we might remember it in the same manner years later as we did back then. Researchers have stated that it might be possible for the disorder to be caused by a shrinking of the hippocampus, or by other changes in the brain.
The are of the brain responsible with the memory is affected, and because of it, the brain associates present memories with the past ones. Seeing a large crowd might make one remember of an event which involved numerous people, even if there is no connection between them. She went to therapy once every week, and she received some medicines for her anxiety problem. Thanks to those two ways of dealing with the disorder she managed to get rid of it. The biggest change occurred when she met Dexter, a small Lhasa apso, whom she adopted from the shelter. The dogs can be great for people who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, as they will stay with their owners when they are going through rough times. Think of them as emotional crutches if you will. She takes him out for long walks, and she is slowly starting to gain trust into people once again.
