Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is an increasingly common diagnosis in this day and age. PTSD is a reflexive condition, caused by experiencing a profoundly traumatic event or by chronic exposure to trauma. Whatever the specifics of a given diagnosis’ origins, PTSD can be a debilitating disorder with which to live.
Some of the more common symptoms associated with PTSD include episodic anxiety, physical aches and pains, emotional numbness and painful ‘flashbacks’ to the root cause of the experience. Without proper care, PTSD can have profound impacts on the living of a normal life – and can make basic interactions at work or in social life unbearable. As someone recently diagnosed, all of this will already be familiar to you. What can you do to address the life-changing impacts of your condition?
Importance of Structure
A large part of the difficulty with PTSD relates to its near-unpredictable onset. Various otherwise-innocuous things can ‘trigger’ your PTSD, resulting in re-experiencing the originating events and extended periods of mental instability.
While you cannot immediately change the circumstances of your PTSD, you can change your environment. Creating structure and harmony at home is essential to controlling the potential for flashbacks, where a serene living space can act as a safe harbour from the more impactful side effects. Your home should be a safe retreat, but not a bunker.
Developing a Consistent Routine
This is where routine becomes especially important. As with other mental disorders like depression and Generalised Anxiety Disorder, it can be easy to feel like shutting oneself away, avoiding stimuli altogether. This can be more harmful, though, in that it can reduce your comfort zone and make you more susceptible to triggers.
A regular and established routine, incorporating time outside in fresh air, can instil purpose and regularity into your day, allowing you to remain comfortable even while moving around.
Seeking Professional Support
Another ancillary impact of PTSD is the tendency to push people away, to bear the burden alone – but you should be doing the opposite. A strong support network is paramount to robust recovery, and in more ways than one.
Family and friends are key to the pastoral elements of PTSD recovery, but there may also be legal considerations at play. Military service is a common cause of PTSD, and military malpractice could be the culprit for many; military solicitors should form a key part of your team in cases where negligence led to your condition, and could win you vital funds for further managing your condition.
Engaging in Physical Activity
As with any mental disorder, physical exercise can be a powerful aspect of condition management. Exercise reduces cortisol levels, and increases dopamine release – allowing you to control your emotions and feel better feelings for your efforts. Exercise is also something new to focus on, and a therapeutic way to exorcise the more painful parts of your experience.
