Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a common condition amongst Americans, especially army veterans. In fact, the condition is so prevalent amongst all those brave men and women who selflessly serve their country that the condition that it was first officially recognized in vets of the Vietnam War and continues to be commonly associated with a risk of active service duty to this day.

Thankfully, the overall medical and public understanding of PTSD has improved dramatically in recent years, making it much easier for those who suffer from this sometimes debilitating condition to learn to live normal healthy lives on a day to day basis.

This is why PTSD in veterans should always be managed under the guidance of professional family military medical support in California and other states as provided by top-notch facilities like the Veteran’s Medical Center in Los Angeles, for example. Friends and family may even qualify for VA housing in Los Angeles during their stay.

1. Seek Out Professional Support

PTSD is a complex condition, and professional support will go a long way to helping veterans understand their symptoms, process their grief and work to minimize the impact on living with PTSD on a person’s day to day life.

If a veteran is suffering from any of the common symptoms of PTSD, such as commonly experiencing painful flashbacks or nightmares stemming from a difficult or disturbing event, feeling their emotions are out of control or that certain triggers result in highly elevated levels of stress, experiencing difficulty sleeping and a chronic sense of anxiety or avoiding or no longer enjoying much-cherished activities they should seek out professional support and advice through a facility specializing in the care of army veterans like the VA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Understand that often the symptoms can start to appear gradually over time, and sometimes it can be difficult to notice a negative impact on daily life when the onset occurs gradually. It is important for veterans to understand that this is an official psychological condition that will generally not improve without professional guidance.

There is no need for veterans to suffer in private. Support is available.

2. Recognize and Avoid Negative Coping Strategies

When people are experiencing unpleasant PTSD symptoms, it is a natural response to want to turn to something that can help numb out the severity of the reaction. Everybody has certain things that they like to turn to to help numb the power of their feelings when they are stressed out. This may be caffeine, alcohol, drugs, food or maybe even television.

While not ideal, in most cases these coping strategies don’t cause much harm, and sometimes even help a person navigate anxiety-provoking event by helping take their mind off it for a while. However, when people suffer from PTSD, their anxiety tends to be chronic. This means that they may find themselves turning to distraction a lot more than the average person. As such, people with PTSD are especially prone to developing harmful addictions.

The first thing that people with PTSD need to understand is that while using distractions might feel good in the short term, it is detrimental to the potential for long-term recovery. Unfortunately, anxiety and stress symptoms will only become magnified if they are chronically ignored. This is why it is so crucial for people living with PTSD to learn to recognize when they are engaging in negative behavior and learn to turn to positive coping mechanisms instead.

3. Learn and Practice Positive Coping Mechanisms and Relaxation Techniques

The good news is that there are lots of healthy ways for people to manage their PTSD and anxiety symptoms. Often, as veterans suffering from this condition increasingly learn to support themselves in dealing with and processing their difficult feelings they are surprised to find how much their condition improves as it continually begins to hold less and less power over their lives.

Keep in mind that PTSD is a complex condition, and while the vote is out as to whether it can ever be entirely cured, it can absolutely be managed in a way that can leave sufferers feeling stronger and more empowered to cope with events in their day to day lives than ever before.

One of the easiest ways to help release pent-up energy is through exercise. Exercise is a much more positive activity to turn to than other harmful addictions when it comes to managing a reaction, and can often be conducive to recovery.

This is particularly true practices of mind-body practices like yoga, meditation, and tai-chi, all of which have been specifically developed to aid in the processing of difficult emotions through the physical body. These types of practices often work hand and hand with each other, so it is often a good idea to complement a more mental practice, like mindfulness meditation, with a gentle physical one, like yoga.

Relaxation and self-care techniques help sooth the central nervous system and make it easier for people to deal with difficult emotions. Anybody looking for an easy way to relax and de-stress might also want to try to take a hot bath epsom salt bath or burning some soothing scented oil. Herbs like chamomile and lavender work tend to provide a sense of comfort and well being and tastes great in tea. Spending time in nature is also a great way to relieve anxiety, and people with PTSD often enjoy turning to gardening or other outdoor activities to help ease the burden of a particularly stressful day.

4. Identify and Talk About the Source of the Pain

One of the keys to managing PTSD effectively in day to day life is to learn to provide the self-care and support that a person needs to move through their painful feelings. Once a person recognizes the source of their pain, they can start processing this event in a way that will help them move through it.

Often times, the best solution is to talk to a trusted friend, loved one or psychological professional. The more than a person is able to talk about a distressing event, the more this event will gradually lose power over their lives. That said, it is important to lean on a person that can be trusted. Sometimes choosing the wrong type of person to share with can do more harm than good.

Posted

July 19, 2019

Category

NEWS

Author

Greater LA Fischer House Blog
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