We’ve all heard of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we know that people with PTSD are those who have been exposed to situations where they felt in great danger, unexpectedly something happened that affected them a lot.
Sexual abuse, assault, wars, terrorist attacks are some examples of events that can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder, but it’s not just man-made situations, natural disasters, such as hurricanes or earthquakes, can also cause disorder. The question is: How can we deal with that?
“All war is a destruction of the human spirit. -Henry Miller-
When a person has a psychological disorder the first thing to do is to seek the help of a suitable psychologist, in this sense, for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive behavioral intervention is the one that has the greatest acceptance and Most supported by empirical evidence, so if we want to minimize the risk of making mistakes, it is best to look for a professional who works with typical interventions of this chain.
This therapist will make an initial assessment, fundamental to understand the problems presented by the patient, then it is important to initiate psychoeducation: it will explain to the patient what is happening to him in terms that he can understand, here it is important to highlight the symptoms that the person suffers, indicating why they appear, what keeps them and how they will be treated.
The goal is for the person to understand, as much as possible, what is happening to them. In addition, it is essential that you understand why and how we will solve the problem, so that it complies with the treatment and we can improve it. After understanding all this, we will teach the patient something fundamental: to relax.
If we train the patient for abdominal breathing, we will provide you with a simple and very useful tool that you can put into practice when anxiety appears, so characteristic of the disorder; on the other hand, once the patient has acquired some ease with the procedure, it is important that he or she practices continuously from the beginning.
“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax. -Dark black-
In addition to providing tools for the person to implement when anxiety increases, it is important to work on other aspects that are there, even if they are not always seen, I am talking about the thoughts and beliefs associated with the event that triggered Everything If we do not address this, the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder will be incomplete: it will be like putting a bandage on an open wound.
Therefore, it is important that the patient learns to identify the ideas that appear in his mind and revolve around the same message: what happened was his fault or that he will not be able to overcome it. Or that the world is full of dangers and that it will happen again. In other words, you must learn to locate automatic thoughts and irrational beliefs when they occur.
With this we will achieve the first stage of cognitive restructuring, then, through socratic dialogue, all this will be questioned during the consultation, in this way, throughout the sessions, the person will learn to abandon the ideas that affect the maintenance of the disorder.
For the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder to be complete, something else needs to be added, as these people generally avoid everything related to the situation in which they lived the danger, it is important to work on exposure, both in imagination and in real life.
With this we manage to decrease their level of anxiety by getting used to the situation, in addition, they will learn that remembering the episode does not mean that they have to go through the same experience and that they will not necessarily lose control again. This will allow people to distinguish between the traumatic event and others associated with it, but not dangerous ones.
“There is nothing more characteristic of the animal’s progress towards humans than the decrease in the frequency of justified opportunities to be afraid. -William James-
The consultation will also reinforce the idea that worked on therapy: what happened was something concrete and specific, not a probable or frequent general event; Finally, it will increase your sense of self-control, as well as seeing you as better able to cope with the situation.
Finally, as with all anxiety problems, it is important to include relapse prevention in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, this last step is critical because it will help maintain progress and provide the patient with a sense of empowerment. and following the scientific method, we will have got the person back in the reins of his life.
Images courtesy of Ian Espinosa, Ander Burdain and Jordy Meow.