Crisis counseling helps you find your way through the uncertainty of post-traumatic stress (PTS). Most everybody experiences PTS after surviving a traumatic experience; it’s perfectly normal but very unsettling. You might feel like time is passing more slowly, or like you cannot find your way through the day without snapping at somebody.
Traumatic stress can be triggered by anything from job loss to natural disasters to violent crime. Different people respond differently to traumatic experiences, so don’t worry if you seem to have a stronger than expected reaction. Just get in touch for help. The sooner you reach out for help, the sooner you will recover, ideally preventing PTSD (The D stands for Disorder). PTSD typically refers to when symptoms persist for longer than a few months.
Common Symptoms of PTS and PTSD
PTS and PTSD Symptoms are usually broken down into four categories. Appropriate crisis counseling will give you the skills to manage each of these areas:
Intrusive thoughts and images
- Flashbacks or intrusive images of the event
- Nightmares about the event
- Extreme emotional responses to triggers of the event
Avoidance behaviors
- Isolation
- Increased use of drugs and alcohol
- Attempts to avoid the scene of the event
- Denial of having any difficulty in spite of obvious signs of distress
Changes in thoughts and personality
- Irritability
- Confusion
- A pervasive sense of helplessness and hopelessness
- Forgetfulness, including of the event itself
- Emotional numbness
- Blocked positive emotions. An inability to enjoy usual experiences
- Social and familial isolation
Physical and emotional reactions
- Easily frightened. Jumpy
- A sense of constant endangerment
- Guilt and shame. Survivors guilt
- Trembling
- Increased risk-taking behaviors
- Lashing out at people over mild annoyances
- Difficulty sleeping
- Changes in appetite
- Sweating
- In extreme cases, suicidal thoughts and behaviors. If you suspect somebody is in danger of hurting themselves, or somebody else, call 9-1-1 immediately
Regardless of your symptom’s severity, please get in touch as soon as possible to begin crisis video/telephone counseling. It is not uncommon for only 2 or 3 sessions to be enough to prevent traumatic stress from becoming post-traumatic stress disorder.
Questions about PTSD, Trauma, and Crisis Counseling
Is PTSD a disease?
Absolutely not! While you may feel physical symptoms like headaches, tense muscles, stomachaches, etc., PTSD is not a disease like cancer. It is a simply a term that describes a lot of symptoms in four simple words: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And remember, as I said in the content above, you don’t immediately just have a “disorder.” At first, those symptoms are perfectly normal and are simply Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
Is it true only soldiers, police and firefighters get PTSD?
Nope. Everybody can experience PTS and PTSD. Extreme violence or tragedy are not the only things that can cause PTS/PTSD. Losing your job can trigger PTSD. Getting a divorce can cause PTS. Even hearing about somebody else’s trauma can cause secondary trauma (still PTS or PTSD). Even trauma counselors like me get debriefed after responding to tragedy to prevent secondary trauma.
Does having PTSD mean I’m crazy?
No, you are not crazy. You may feel crazy, but you are not actually insane. You are not losing your mind. The anxiety about going crazy is simply the anxiety symptom that goes with PTS and PTSD. Your situation (the trauma) may be crazy, but you are not.
Why is my PTSD worse than other people?
What makes us who we are involves three things:
- Genetics (heredity)
- Conditioning (how you were raised)
- Environment you were raised in (were you raised in a mansion or on the streets?)
Some people can experience a very intense situation, like a robbery, and not be too traumatized. Other people might be in a simple fender-bender and experience PTS for so long that it does turn into PTS-D. Being easily triggered is not an indication that you are weak; it just means that you feel trauma more intensely. This may be just a natural thing involving genetics, conditioning and environment, or you may have been through another tragedy in the past that wasn’t quite resolved. Trauma counseling helps all of these.
Jonathan F. Anderson, LCMHC, LPC-s
Jonathan is dually licensed in North Carolina as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC, formerly LPC) and in Texas as a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-s). He completed his Bachelor‘s degree at the University of Texas, Austin, in 1994, and his Master’s Degree at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in 1997. Jonathan has been a leader in the teletherapy industry for over 20-years. He has written telephone counseling training protocols for an international teletherapy provider and was the lead trainer at the same organization. Jonathan has completed Level II of the rigorous Gottman Method of Couples Counseling, and is recognized as an advanced provider of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Management. He is happy to be able to apply his expertise of online and telephone counseling to his trauma response and to all of his counseling services.