By: Adolfo Garcia

 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an emotional illness that develops as a results of terribly frightening, life threatening or otherwise highly unsafe experience.

 People tend to avoid places, people, or other things that remind them of the event (avoidance).  Troublesome memories and flashbacks that are usually caused by reminders of the traumatic events and recurring nightmares about the trauma.

 They may include increased duration of a traumatic event, higher severity of the trauma experienced.  Also having an emotional stress prior to the event or having little social support in the form of family and friends.

 The symptoms include sleep problems, trouble concentrating, irritability, anger, poor concentrating, blackouts or difficultly remembering things,increased tendency and reaction to being startled, and hyper vigilance to threat.

 You may be wracked by guilt about surviving when others did not. Or may feel guilt because you think you could have done something to help.  In some cases, symptoms may be so severe that you need emergency help, especially if you are thinking about harming yourself or someone else.

 Having Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also may place you at higher risks of other mental health problems, including depression, drug abuse, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, and suicidal thoughts or actions.

 Include Psychological Medical Treatments that may include providing information about illness, teaching ways how to manage symptoms.  Educating someone on this disorder increases likelihood that accurate ideas that the person may have about the illness are dispelled, and any shame they may feel about having it is minimized and help cope with the illness.

 Antidepressants can help symptoms of both depression and anxiety. They also can improve sleep problems and improve your concentration.  Anti-anxiety medications also improve feelings of anxiety and stress.  The medications all depend on your situation and symptoms, but it may take a couple of tries to see what medications are right for you.