Otherwise know as PTSD is a severve anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to an event that results in psychological trauma. This also seems to be a topic that is missed by many blogs and websites that deal with apocalypse topics, and one I feel should get a lot of attention given the fact that the apocalypse or collapse or whatever you want to call it will be the biggest most stressful and guaranteed most traumatic event that those who survive it will ever experience.
PTSD is commonly associated with soldiers who have seen terribly things in combat which is totally true but only covers a fragment of those who actually suffer from it. Victims of rape, abuse, or other life threatening events could potentially suffer from PTSD. For the apocalypse and post apocalypse this will come in the form of watching everything you love and worked hard for go up in flames. When the electricity goes out, when the internet goes down forever, and when you see people dying in the streets are huge changes that most of us simply aren’t used to.
There is no on switch meaning that no two people who see and experience the same event will suffer from PTSD. There is also no time frame when it kicks in. It could happen minutes after a traumatic event, or a person could be fine for days, weeks, even years until a trigger is set off in that individuals mind and sends them over the edge.
When the collapse comes you need to be mindful of the mental state of those who are in your group (If you have one) to spot PTSD here are a few of the symptoms
Persistent
-Re-experiencing of the event such as flashbacks or severe nightmares
Avoidance
- The person tries to avoid anything that’s similar to the event. An example would be veterans who don’t walk on grass or lawns for fear of stepping on a land mine
Numbing
-Unable to recall major parts of the trauma, and or decreased involvement in significant life activities, and a decreased capacity to feel certain emotions.
Increased arousal
-Problems falling asleep, anger control or hyper vigilance
These are just a few of the symptoms it should also be noted that if these symptoms go on for more than 1 month that it’s PTSD
In the post apocalypse world you’re not going to have the resources and trained professionals who can help with the situation. It’ll be up to you as a group leader or the one who suffers from this to take action. Doing things like social interaction, changing your mind set to be more positive, and keeping busy by exercise and activities that you can focus on to keep your mind away from those sorts of thoughts are all options one can do.
For additional information about PTSD here are some sites that offer information on the subject as well as contact information for those who may be suffering from this already.
http://www.medicinenet.com/posttraumatic_stress_disorder/article.htm
( U.S residents )
http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=3-94-97&lang=1
( Canadian residents )
One of your best posts. Very informative about this topic. You made it clear enough for anyone. The symptoms of PTSD was particularly fascinating. Like numbing, avoidance, increased arousal and so on. It's also interesting that a few of these traits are also linked to severe depression, if ya think about it.
ReplyDeleteCool post.
Yeah they go hand in hand most of the time. I've known a few people who suffer from this and it really screws with their head, some can never return to the military afterwards. Many of the guys who I've seen have it have to take months off at a time to re-adjust. I even wonder if I have some form of it given all the abuse and violence from my childhood.
ReplyDeleteIt also kinda bugs me that there are a lot of sites out there that talk about apocalypse survival in one form or another but none ever mention anything about PTSD, they almost forget that if things go down it's going to mess with peoples heads.
Perhaps the authors of those sites suffer from flagrant retardation. :-)
ReplyDeletePerhaps, there are some good blogs and websites on the topic. Then there's a whole lot of junk out there with no real content, nothing that is of any use or stuck in fantasy. SO retardation is probably rampant out there
ReplyDelete