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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

In our everyday lives, any of us can have an experience that is overwhelming, frightening, and beyond our control. We could find ourselves in a car accident or be the victim of an assault. Military personnel, police, fire brigade or ambulance workers are more likely to have such experiences as they often have to deal with horrifying scenes and may witness colleagues injured.

With time most people get over experiences like this without needing help. But in some traumatic experiences set off a reaction that can last for many months or years. This is called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short.

PTSD is a factor in many of the cases with which we deal with, as often the injuries which have occurred have been as a direct result of a traumatic event. For that reason our lawyers are experienced at bringing PTSD compensation claims and have the expertise to identify when a person may be suffering PTSD as a result of an accident.

WHAT IS PTSD?
PTSD is a reaction to being exposed to an event which is outside the range of normal human experience. It is a term used to describe a range of psychological symptoms people may experience following a traumatic event.

HOW DOES IT START?
PTSD can start after any traumatic event. A traumatic event is one where we can see that we are in danger, our life is threatened, or where we see other people dying or being injured. Some typical traumatic events would be:

  • serious road accidents
  • military combat
  • violent personal assault (sexual assault, physical attack, abuse, robbery, mugging)
  • being taken hostage
  • terrorist attack
  • being a prisoner-of-war
  • natural or man-made disasters
  • being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.
  • hearing about an the unexpected injury or violent death of a family member or close friend can start PTSD

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF PTSD?
The symptoms of PTSD can start after a delay of weeks, or even months. They usually appear within 6 months of a traumatic event. Some who have had a traumatic experience, may feel emotionally numb and feelings of distress may not emerge straight away. Some will experience the following symptoms:

Reliving aspects of the trauma - Flashbacks & Nightmares. Someone with PTSD may find themselves re-living the event. This could be day or night. A person might see the event in their mind but may also feel the emotions and physical sensations of what happened - fear, sweating, smells, sounds, pain. Many things can trigger off flashbacks. For instance, if a car crash happened in the rain, a rainy day might start a flashback.

Avoiding memories - It can be just too upsetting to re-live the experience over and over again. Those with PTSD may wish to deal with the pain by trying to feel nothing at all. They will want to keep themselves distracted by keeping their mind busy such as working very hard. They will avoid places and people that remind them of the trauma, and try not to talk about it.

Hyper vigilance - being alert or 'on guard'. Some people who have PTSD will find that they cannot relax - they will stay alert all the time. They can experience disturbed sleep, become irritable and agreessive, have a lack of concentration and be easily startled.


These responses are all quite normal. Many people find the symptoms will disappear in due course. It's when they last for longer than a month, or when they are very extreme, that PTSD may be diagnosed. Sufferers may also have other symptoms, such as severe anxiety, a phobia or depression.

Other Symptoms of someone with PTSD can include:-

  • muscle aches and pains
  • Diarrhoea
  • irregular heartbeats
  • Headaches
  • feelings of panic and fear
  • depression
  • drinking too much alcohol
  • using drugs (including painkillers) sleep problems including nightmares and waking early
  • Flashbacks and replays which you are unable to switch off
  • impaired memory, forgetfulness, inability to recall names, facts and dates that are well known to you
  • impaired concentration
  • impaired learning ability (eg through poor memory and inability to concentrate)
  • hypervigilance (feels like but is not paranoia)
  • exaggerated startle response
  • irritability, sudden intense anger, occasional violent outbursts
  • panic attacks
  • hypersensitivity, whereby every remark is perceived as critical
  • obsessiveness - the experience takes over your life, you can't get it out of your mind
  • joint and muscle pains which have no obvious cause
  • feelings of nervousness, anxiety
  • reactive depression (not endogenous depression)
  • excessive levels of shame, embarrassment
  • survivor guilt for having survived when others perished or for not having done more to help or save others
  • a feeling of having been given a second chance at life
  • undue fear
  • low self-esteem and shattered self-confidence
  • emotional numbness, anhedonia (inability to feel love or joy)
  • feelings of detachment
  • avoidance of anything that reminds you of the experience
  • physical and mental paralysis at any reminder of the experience

CHILDREN
Younger children may have upsetting dreams of the actual trauma, which then change into nightmares of monsters. They often re-live the trauma in their play. For example, a child involved in a serious road traffic accident might re-enact the crash with toy cars, over and over again. They may lose interest in things they used to enjoy. They may find it hard to believe that they will live long enough to grow up. They often complain of stomach aches and headaches.