Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also commonly known as PTSD is formally classified as an Anxiety Disorder and the full description of the disorder and a more complete article on this condition appears here.
In summary, the disorder is characterised by a set of unpleasant symptoms which set in some time after the experience of a terrifying event or series of events in which someone’s life is under threat. Psychologists, counsellors and victims usually describe these symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, as being in two broad classes.
Firstly, people often re-live repeated memories of the traumatic event. Second, they experience a sense of denial or numbing; as if they are ‘not quite there’. Usually these types of symptoms of intrusion and denial shift from one to another.
If you have experienced trauma or have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), you may also be avoiding memories of your trauma or any person, place or situation which might remind you of it as these situations may bring on a feeling as if you are reliving the terror of the actual event. However, efforts to avoid such stimuli do not usually help in the long run.
You may wish to read the full article on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or Acute Stress Disorder and you may wish to contact Associated Counsellors & Psychologists Sydney for further information on trauma counselling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Publication No. 95-3879 (1995)
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