Post Traumatic Stress
An anxiety condition from a severely traumatic experience that causes the victim to have the same obsessive thoughts and feelings is called post traumatic stress. Experiences such as what the school children experience when a classmate kills or injures several students will cause post traumatic stress. An event that causes serious injury and death causes a person to repeatedly go through this experience with dreams, flashbacks and thoughts, even though the person tries to avoid anything that is a reminder. With a few people the symptoms may not start for several months or years. This condition without treatment will gradually be reduced, but a few people may experience it indefinitely.
Because post traumatic stress is primarily a mental condition, psychotherapy is the most effective treatment. The therapist is sympathetic to the person's needs and understands the person's psychological pain. The therapist lets the patient know that his pain is valid but at the same time encouragement is given to the person to face up to the memories during behavioral desensitization therapy. Under the doctor's care, drugs may be given for anxiety or depression.
