PTSD: A Glimpse into a Life with Trauma
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health disorder that can occur when a person experiences severe trauma or witnesses highly distressing events. Trauma is anything that causes abnormal levels of distress and can manipulate the well-being of the individual. People often undervalue the severity of PTSD as a mental health issue and weigh it to the ‘lack of willpower’ or the ‘lack of mental/emotional strength’ of the victim. However, it is essential to understand that that is never the case.
No matter how strong you might think you are, there are hidden predispositions that are genetically carried down – which you may not even be aware of. These predispositions make individuals react differently to varying levels of triggers. It is unfortunate that people in India equate mental strength with the suppression of emotional reactions to triggering situations. It is now – more than ever – when PTSD treatment in India is necessary for recouping from all the unresolved trauma.
The Story of Vihaan
Let’s listen to the tale of a young 23-year-old budding entrepreneur – Mr. Vihaan Singh – who personifies resilience and success. Vihaan since childhood had been very helpful, caring, and good at everything he did – which made him want to work towards his goals much more fervently. One night, while coming back from work, Vihaan witnessed one of the most gruesome accidents in front of his car. This completely shook him. Well, it had to – one moment late, and it would have been him.
While driving back, Vihaan noticed that he was profusely sweating and had difficulty breathing. He didn’t give it much thought as he accounted for the heavy workload he had to work on for the distress he was going through – and of course, it wasn’t the first time he was stressed! This happened frequently.
That night, however, Vihaan couldn’t sleep.
Now, he thought that his work must be getting to him. So, he was down for a glass of water. But as soon as he poured himself a glass, he suddenly got a jolt in his chest, and he felt as if he couldn’t breathe at all. He was trembling all over, sweating, shivering. Then came the moment he had never expected. He was somehow seeing the same gruesome accident that he witnessed, again and again, even with his eyes closed. He could feel the fear build up in his throat and he sat down in a corner – unaware of what was happening; unaware of what to do.
When this episode ended, he went back to his room.
Vihaan didn’t sleep that night.
Effects of PTSD
As we follow the story of Vihaan, let’s explore what PTSD does to a person. Those episodes didn’t end there. They were just the beginning. Slowly, Vihaan showed the following symptoms:
- He was hypervigilant of everyone around him.
- He used to get random flashbacks of the accident during his work.
- He was afraid to drive to and fro and skipped many days of work.
- He started living inside his home, and cut connections with his friends and loved ones.
- His sleep was disturbed for most nights.
- He had almost forgotten what peace of mind felt like.
Life Challenges, Relationship problems, and other intricacies
Vihaan is an example of countless people going through trauma without even knowing what is affecting them. He was not only suffering on the financial and work end of his life, but his well-being – physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and social – was disturbed. His state of mind was of constant worry. Frustration built up because he didn’t know what actually was making him feel this way.
So, what helped him?
Going for Therapy – The Need, The Uses, The Benefits
There are a plethora of options for maintaining mental peace. But what happens when you fall into a living nightmare like Vihaan, unaware of the root cause?
This is where professional psychological help is most needed.
Various therapies have been found to help people with PTSD reduce the symptoms that they are facing while helping them build resilience for future potential traumatic events. Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing/Relaxation or EMDR therapy for PTSD in India is one of the most popular and scientifically robust therapies that have helped numerous clients with PTSD overcome their symptoms. This modality of trauma recovery therapy in India revolves around helping the clients reprocess the traumatic event. PTSD treatment in India promotes EMDR therapy for PTSD in India and for clients throughout the world due to its unique mechanism of making changes in how the event is stored in the brain along with symptomatic management.
Let’s see what Vihaan did.
After some online research from valid sources, Vihaan understood that he may be going through something called PTSD. He went online and searched for ‘PTSD counseling near me’ and willed to meet a professional to remove him from his duress.
Today, Vihaan has managed to continue his work with booming success, regained his mental peace, evaluated his mental well-being routines, accommodated time for himself, drives his way to work, and sleeps soundly at night. And guess what? He’s engaged too! He was finally able to let go of his hypervigilance and suspicion and build even more meaningful connections with someone he wished to spend his life with.
It took time, it took effort. But at the end, he did it, and so can you.
The Vihaan in Each One of Us
Everyone is going through something or the other in life. Many problems are not really classified as ‘trauma’ but well, there’s no one glove fits all in mental wellbeing. You’re unique, and so are your problems. What may be traumatic for Vihaan, may not have been one for you.
Then how do you know when to consult a professional?
See your symptoms. If you feel you are unable to handle the situation you are going through, consult a psychologist to get the help you need before it fosters into something serious. Life events may differ, but so can the effect they have on you.
The only thing you need to remember is that there are numerous professionally trained psychologists available in an offline and online mode as well who are willing to help you. You just need to take the first step!
Why CoachForMind?
- Experienced Psychologists: We are a team of licensed RCI-registered clinical psychologists. Our team is well-experienced in various forms of therapy such as CBT, DBT, EMDR, and Narrative Therapy.
- Personalized Approach: We are dedicated to treating our clients in the best-suited way, carefully curated as per the client’s needs, and adhering to one-on-one, client-centered therapy.
- Scientific Techniques: Our treatment plans and therapeutic methods are based on highly researched scientific findings such as CBT, DBT, EMDR and Narrative Therapy.
- Quality service: We at CoachForMind ensure quality services in our treatment regime and therapeutic approaches. Our clients hold the most value to us, so we ground our techniques in empathy while maintaining professionalism.
For more information, please visit our website or contact us directly at coachformind@gmail.com
