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PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by a very stressful, frightening, catastrophic or distressing traumatic event or events over a prolonged period. The person with PTSD feels ‘on edge’, re-experiencing or re-living through the event in the form of nightmares or flashbacks. It has been shown that PTSD can develop either immediately after the traumatic event or weeks, months and years later.

Facts about PTSD
Globally

1 in every 3 people have experienced a traumatic event. A significant amount of these individuals do not seek psychological support.
UK

Around 4% of UK adults experience Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Suicides

800,000
4 in 100 people are diagnosed with PTSD in any given week in England
Symptoms
- Feeling on edge persistently,
- Reliving memories, nightmares, repetitive and distressing images orsensations of the trauma
- Irritability, angry outbursts
- Avoidance of the conditions that remind one of the trauma
- Sleep problems
PTSD can be very hard and a complex issue to treat. However, medication and talking therapies like trauma focused therapy can be quite effective when recommended and carried out by experienced mental health professionals.

Treatments
Physical treatments:
- Antidepressant or Anxiolytic (Anxiety)
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) – TMS treatment
Psychological therapies:
- Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or
- Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) Attentive Symptom Monitoring:
Attentive Symptom Monitoring:
- Monitoring your symptoms to see whether they resolve following a traumatic event

Oaktree Assessment Tool
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