We already brought you part one of this informative article about PTSD, and now we’re back with part two. Since post-traumatic stress disorder is a lot more common than people realize, it’s a good idea for people to have a better understanding of it. Here are some interesting facts about PTSD.
Number Eight: People Don’t Always Know They Have It
Since symptoms do not always show up immediately, a lot of people don’t even realize they have it. Since the cause could have occurred so long ago in life, often times it’s difficult to see the connection.
Number Seven: Witnessing Violence is Enough to Cause PTSD
The events do not always have to occur directly to a person for them to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Often times just seeing them happen to another is enough.
Number Six: Exposing People to Their Past Trauma Helps Cure It
One of the methods used to help people cope with this disease is exposure therapy. They re-experience events in a safe way and can learn to come to terms with them and move on.
Number Five: Medication is not Always Necessary
Though it helps some people with symptoms of this disorder, it’s only one of the available methods. Often times, therapy alone is enough to cure someone.
Number Four: PTSD Can Cause Memory Loss
The stress of PTSD can harm the hippocampus of the brain. This means that transferring memories from short to long term memory becomes more difficult.
Number Three: Different People have Different Trauma Thresholds
Although up to 70% of Americans will experience some form of trauma in life, not all of them will develop PTSD. This disorder only occurs in some sufferers of trauma.
Number Two: It is Most Likely to Occur in Sufferers of Interpersonal Violence
Many forms of traumatic events exist, but experiencing violence directly or witnessing another person experiencing it is most likely to cause this issue. Though natural disasters are also troublesome, it is less likely that someone will develop PTSD as a result of them than violence.
Number One: Some People Recover in Six Months, Others Take Much Longer
This disorder affects everyone differently. While some people may recover quite quickly, others may suffer for years.