Symptoms of PTSD can be nightmares and flashbacks of an extremely traumatic event. People who suffer from PTSD tend to avoid life and can have outbursts of anger. They can be rendered dysfunctional by the trauma and then take out their frustrations on people close to them or just generally vent on others. They can numb their emotions and as secondary to this, they may withdraw from close relationships and be unable to express warmth and affection. If you've ever seen a traumatized or injured animal withdraw into itself, the effect is similar in PTSD. The original traumatizing event was simply too much and it keeps haunting the witness-withdrawal from the world is a natural defense. Anxiety may develop as the person attempts to 'stuff' the feelings or depression can also be a part of it. People can become paranoid, hyper or inactive, be plagued by fears, have an inability to focus or they may space out, and they can abuse drugs and alcohol or dive into other addictions such as gambling, sex, and work.

These symptoms can become evident relatively soon after the event as in a matter of months but even manifest years after the traumatic event. There are often triggers to the trauma and people tend to withdraw so as to avoid any triggers.

Over the last decades the treatment methods have changed for PTSD. Initially we asked people to tell the story of what happened and then to express their feelings about the event. This proved to be aggravating the situation rather than healing it. Now there are several new techniques which in essence focus on a present orientation where the person's whole baseline lowers and they learn to recognize the difference between a PTSD state and their original relaxed state. It would be my pleasure to help you in this regard.