POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER TREATMENT
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder which occurs after a person has personally experienced or witnessed a dangerous and life-threatening event.  Individuals who are at risk for developing PTSD include but are not limited to:
  • Soldiers who have been in combat
  • Survivors or witnesses of violent crimes (including rape, kidnapping, robbery, etc.)
  • Individuals who have lived through a natural disaster
  • Survivors of accidents or grave illness

These events can cause lasting psychological symptoms, including the following (taken from the National Institute for Mental Health Website--www.nimh.nih.gov):

1) Re-experiencing symptoms:
  • Flashbacks—reliving the trauma over and over, including physical symptoms like a racing heart or sweating
  • Bad dreams
  • Frightening thoughts.
2) Avoidance symptoms:
  • Staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the experience
  • Feeling emotionally numb
  • Feeling strong guilt, depression, or worry
  • Losing interest in activities that were enjoyable in the past
  • Having trouble remembering the dangerous event.
Things that remind a person of the traumatic event can trigger avoidance symptoms. These symptoms may cause a person to change his or her personal routine. For example, after a bad car accident, a person who usually drives may avoid driving or riding in a car.
3) Hyperarousal symptoms:
  • Being easily startled
  • Feeling tense or “on edge”
  • Having difficulty sleeping, and/or having angry outbursts.
Hyperarousal symptoms may make it hard to do daily tasks, such as sleeping, eating, or concentrating.

At the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine, PTSD is treated with a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and medications (when necessary).  This effective approach can help individuals with PTSD to identify situations that trigger their “fight or flight” response.

Using the cognitive-behavioral techniques of flooding and systematic desensitization, the therapist and patient can work together to safely reintroduce situations that have become too anxiety-provoking for the patient. Over time, irritability, flashbacks and nightmares will subside and the patient is able to return to their pre-trauma functionality. 

Treating PTSD is a rewarding experience for our clinicians, as long-term success is highly achievable and patient transformation is astounding to watch
RCBM <> 441 S. Livernois, Suite 205 <> Rochester Hills, MI 48307 <> (248) 608-8800 <> info@rcbm.net