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Self-Evaluation
1. Do you find your mind going over and over
a particular incident that occurred, or reliving an incident again
and again, as though you’re there?
2. Are you very easily startled by sudden noises—a car backfiring,
shouting, a loud engine?
3. Do you find yourself having difficulty being in crowds? If
you go to the movies, do you find yourself sitting in the back
row to make sure that no one is sitting behind you?
4. Are you hypervigilant, always "looking over your shoulder,"
making sure you’re in a place that feels safe?
5. Are you often agitated or irritable without knowing
why?
6. Have you become less social?
7. Do you frequently feel anxious out of proportion to actual
events?
8. Do you have nightmares, dread going to sleep, have difficulty
staying asleep, or awaken extremely early in the morning?
9. Have you undergone military service in a war zone, or been
a victim of domestic violence, rape, assault, suffered a car or
other accident or any other type of violent occurrence that felt
in the moment as if it put your life at risk?
10. Have you witnessed another person being killed or brutally
injured, and felt powerless to change the course of events?
11. Have you suffered an intense loss or personal disaster?
If these symptoms seem familiar, there is hope and healing
available to you.
You may be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or
"PTSD," a treatable condition which has its roots
in the human mind’s automatic response to stress greater
than it can handle.
Symptoms arise because the mind does not want to think about,
and cannot handle, the terrifying nature of the events that
occurred during those moments when, like a kid afraid of the
bogeyman, you felt scared to death. Your psyche produces symptoms
in an effort to quell the reality so that the mind needn’t
think about it.
Symptoms of PTSD may arise shortly after the traumatic event(s),
or two weeks, six months, a year, or many years later.
Learn
more about healing from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
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