Maintaining Mental Health with a PTSD Diagnosis

A PTSD diagnosis can happen to anyone. Following a violent or traumatic event, you or your loved one may experience intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, problems regulating emotions, and other symptoms that make everyday life difficult. Maintaining mental health with a PTSD diagnosis can be difficult, but with the help of an experienced psychotherapist, you can process what happened to you and find ways to manage your symptoms.

Causes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that occurs after a traumatic life event. PTSD can be caused by a variety of different types of Adverse Life Events (ALEs) – incidents that cause physical, emotional, psychological, or even spiritual damage. Some common ALEs include:

• Natural disaster like a tornado, flood, or storm
• Medical injury or chronic illness diagnosis
• Accidents including car crashes and workplace injuries
• Unexpected job loss
• Family disruptions including divorce or relocation
• Death of a loved one
• Bullying or workplace harassment
• Child abuse
• Sexual assault
• Other Acts of violence
• Secondary trauma from witnessing or working with a person experiencing an ALE

If you have experienced one of these events, you may begin to experience symptoms such as:

• Flashbacks
• Nightmares
• Intrusive thoughts or memories
• Avoidance of triggers
• Numbing
• Negative changes in mood
• Mood regulation issues such as irritability, aggression, or self-destructive behaviors
• Memory issues
• Substance dependency (such as drugs or alcohol)
• Hyperarousal symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, hyper diligence, aggression, or recklessness

Getting a PTSD Diagnosis

As the name suggests, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder cannot be diagnosed until after the event has occurred. You may begin to feel the symptoms of PTSD within just days of the event. However, in most cases, you cannot receive a PTSD diagnosis until the symptoms continue for an extended period of time. In the interim, you may receive a different diagnosis, such as an anxiety disorder, while your medical provider determines whether you can be diagnosed with PTSD.

It is important to discuss the traumatic event you experienced with your psychologist or other medical provider. Anxiety, depression, and PTSD have overlapping symptoms, but their treatments are different, because maintaining mental health with a PTSD diagnosis involves different treatment goals and strategies. Unless your mental health professionals understand the context of your experiences, you may be misdiagnosed, and your treatment and prognosis may be delayed.

Maintaining Mental Health with a PTSD Diagnosis

After a traumatic event, if you believe you are experiencing PTSD symptoms, you should make your mental health a priority. This means identifying the events and triggers that aggravate your PTSD symptoms, and learning coping mechanisms such as mindfulness to bring those symptoms under control.

However, it is important to remember that recovering from a traumatic event is a process. PTSD causes biological and chemical changes to your brain. It will take time and work with a psychotherapist to retrain your brain to maintain your mental health after receiving a PTSD diagnosis. Have patience with yourself, and give yourself grace when your concentration slips or you experience insomnia or other PTSD symptoms. In time, you will get better at maintaining your mental health and coping with your symptoms. In time, you can enjoy your normal life without intrusive PTSD symptoms.

David Stanislaw is a psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience. He helps adults, teens and children with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns. Contact David Stanislaw to get help today.