Understanding PTSD

PTSD is the more common term you hear these days.  It stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  PTSD sometimes appears directly after a traumatic event.  That is ANY kind of traumatic event.   Other times it can take days, months and even years to rear it's ugly head.  This can last for months and years.  For some it will never completely go away.  It's a direct response to the original traumatic event that caused it.  During the original traumatic event your body goes into what is called "fight or flight" mode which causes the body to release special hormones to help you get through it.  It's as if your brain creates a pocket in your brain where "triggers" will cause your brain to go into a mode that makes you feel like you're back in grave danger.  Once triggered, even though you know or have assessed that you're not in grave danger your brain dips into that special pocket that was created during the trauma and you're automatically back in fight or flight mode.  It's not a conscious thought.  Let me be clear!  People do not think themselves into feeling like this.  

To understand this better you need to know what a trigger is.  A trigger can be anything that reminds the brain of that original traumatic incident.  For me it was a car accident where I lost 3 close family members instantly and I survived and was in a coma for a few weeks.  Sometimes my PTSD is better than others.  Sometimes it's almost nonexistant.  Other times something as simple as hearing a car door shut, a car drive by or even just seeing a car will trigger me. On rare occasions someone will say "Let's go..." and that will trigger me.  I don't think about that accident all of the time anymore, not often at all.  It happened decades ago.  I've dealt with it and I am at peace with everything on a conscious level.  My PTSD is not.  It's more of a subconscious response to it all.  You're brain will just send these signals out keeping you in the physiological response of grave danger.  

PTSD will affect most people that have it on a personal functioning level, a family level even on a professional level.  Some days will be better than others.  Sometimes it will stick around for weeks at a time.   Because it isn't a conscious thought, a conscious response doesn't always work.  

Behaviorally people respond differently in fight or flight mode.  A lot of times people with PTSD will withdraw from family and friends, even society to avoid triggers.  Personally,  I've recieved many different forms of treatment for mine and am considered "drug resistant" so the medications don't work for me anymore.  I went through a therapy called EMDR therapy very intensively years ago and it helped for around 8 years.  It was never completely gone but it  became a "new normal" I could live with and deal with.  It came back to severe about 3 years ago and I'm still trying to find good help.  It's difficult to find a therapy that works.  What might work for one person may not for 100 others.  They don't know enough about how to treat it.  No matter what you read it's not curable.  It is manageable and treatable if you can find good help for it.  PTSD Service animals worked really well for me as well.  Mine however passed a little over a year ago.  I don't have the space in my apartment for one, until I can afford a larger place and have the money to get another one and the upkeep.  They are lifesavers, believe that!

PTSD has been around for centuries.  They've even found evidence of it in Ancient times.  It was called Shell Shock and Battle Fatigue during the first and second World Wars.  My point for writing about this is to raise awareness about invisible disabilities.  I want to open a respectful dialogue so if you have any questions, let's talk.  Feel free to resteem this because there are thousands upon thousands suffering in silence.  It helps to have a good support system.  Thank you for taking your time to read this.  I'd also like to thank @Steemit and it's community for giving me this platform to help me write about it and hopefully raise awareness.