What is Trauma and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)?
People can respond to traumatic experiences in many different ways. It is common to feel distressed, unsettled or on edge, and for many people these reactions gradually ease. When they persist, however, trauma can affect how safe you feel, how you respond to reminders, your relationships, and your sense of yourself and the world around you.
PTSD is one particular pattern of ongoing trauma related difficulties. It can involve unwanted memories or nightmares, feeling as though aspects of the experience are happening again, avoiding reminders, feeling emotionally numb or disconnected, and remaining unusually alert to possible danger.
These responses can be deeply disruptive, but effective treatments can help people process what they have experienced, reduce the hold it has on their present life, and begin to feel safer and more able to engage with life again.