PTSD Specialist Overland Park, KS

Experiencing PTSD? You are not alone . . .

Here is a list of famous people who have spoken about their PTSD:

• Ariana Grande after a suicide bombing in Manchester, UK, which killed 22 people in May 2017.
• Whoopi Goldberg after witnessing a mid-air collision between two planes in 1978.
• Mick Jagger after losing his long-term partner L’Wren Scott to suicide.
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis after witnessing JFK’s assassination.
• Monica Seles, grand slam winner, after being stabbed in the back with a nine-inch kitchen knife in Hamburg, Germany
• Shia LaBeouf after overhearing his mother being raped when he was 3 years old.
• Charlize Theron, after witnessing her mother shoot and kill her father during a domestic dispute

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs after experiencing a traumatic event. You or your child may be directly involved in the event, witness it, or hear about the trauma after it happens to a friend or family member. Any of these scenarios can result in PTSD. The events that most often cause PTSD include:

• Military duty
• Gun violence
• Physical assault
• Sexual assault
• Severe accident
• Natural or man-made disasters
• PTSD often develops after a family member or friend dies.

What symptoms develop due to PTSD?

Symptoms may appear shortly after the event that caused your PTSD, or there may be a delay of months or years. General anxiety and frightening thoughts and memories are some of the most common symptoms, but patients with PTSD may also:

• Have flashbacks or dreams about the event
• Experience hypersensitive emotions
• Feel on edge or angry
• Be easily startled
• Become depressed
• Blame themselves for the event
• Avoid people and places that remind them of the event
• Flashbacks and dreams may be so vivid that you or your child relive the traumatic event, which can trigger anxiety and physical symptoms such as shortness of breath and a rapid heartbeat.

How is PTSD Treated?

The team at Inspired Psychiatric Care (IPC) may prescribe one of several medications that target specific symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and recurring nightmares.

Additionally, IPC may recommend trauma-focused psychotherapy which consists of treatment modalities that address how trauma affects your mental, behavioral, emotional, and physical well-being. During therapy, you learn skills such as relaxation, cognitive coping, emotional processing, and desensitization.