Category: PTSD

Coping with PTSD Symptoms

There are some direct ways to cope with specific PTSD symptoms. Try using these ways of coping to figure out which ones are helpful to you. Then practice them. Like other skills, they work better with practice.

Talk with a mental healthcare provider if symptoms continue for more than a few weeks or disrupt your daily life.

Unwanted, distressing memories, images, or thoughts

  • Remind yourself that they are just that, memories.
  • Remind yourself that it’s natural to have some memories of the trauma(s).
  • Talk about them with someone you trust.
  • Remember that, although reminders of trauma can feel overwhelming, they often lessen with time.

Sudden feelings of anxiety or panic

Traumatic stress reactions often include feeling your heart pounding and feeling lightheaded or “spacey.” This is usually caused by rapid breathing. If this happens, remember that:

  • These reactions are not dangerous. If you had them while exercising, they most likely would not worry you.
  • These feelings often come with scary thoughts that are not true. For example, you may think, “I’m going to die,” “I’m having a heart attack,” or “I will lose control.” It is the scary thoughts that make these reactions so upsetting.
  • Slowing down your breathing may help.
  • The sensations will soon pass and then you can go on with what you were doing.

Each time you respond in these positive ways to your anxiety or panic, you will be working toward making it happen less often. Practice will make it easier to cope.

Feeling like the trauma is happening again (flashbacks)

  • Keep your eyes open. Look around you and notice where you are.
  • Talk to yourself. Remind yourself where you are, what year it is, and that you are safe. The trauma happened in the past, and you are in the present.
  • Get up and move around. Have a drink of water and wash your hands.
  • Call someone you trust and tell them what is happening.
  • Remind yourself that this is a common response after trauma.
  • Tell your mental healthcare provider about the flashback(s).

Dreams and nightmares related to the trauma

  • If you wake up from a nightmare in a panic, remind yourself that you are reacting to a dream. Having the dream is why you are in a panic, not because there is real danger now.
  • You may want to get up out of bed, regroup, and orient yourself to the here and now.
  • Engage in a pleasant, calming activity. For example, listen to some soothing music.
  • Talk to someone if possible.
  • Talk with your healthcare provider about your nightmares. There are treatments that can help.

Difficulty falling or staying asleep

  • Keep to a regular bedtime schedule.
  • Avoid heavy exercise for the few hours just before going to bed.
  • Avoid using your sleeping area for anything other than sleeping or sex.
  • Avoid alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine. These harm your ability to sleep.
  • Do not lie in bed thinking or worrying. Get up and enjoy something soothing or pleasant. Read a calming book, drink a glass of warm milk or herbal tea, or do a quiet hobby.

Irritability, anger, and rage

  • Take a time out to cool off or think things over. Walk away from the situation.
  • Get in the habit of exercising every day. Exercise reduces body tension and relieves stress.
  • Remember that staying angry doesn’t work. It actually increases your stress and can cause health problems.
  • Talk with your counselor or healthcare provider about your anger. Take classes in how to manage anger.
  • If you blow up at family members or friends, find time as soon as you can to talk to them about it. Let them know how you feel and what you are doing to cope with your reactions.

Difficulty concentrating or staying focused

  • Slow down. Give yourself time to focus on what it is you need to learn or do.
  • Write things down. Making “to do” lists may be helpful.
  • Break tasks down into small doable chunks.
  • Plan a realistic number of events or tasks for each day.
  • You may be depressed. Many people who are depressed have trouble concentrating. Again, this is something you can discuss with your counselor, healthcare provider, or someone close to you.

Trouble feeling or expressing positive emotions

  • Remember that this is a common reaction to trauma. You are not doing this on purpose. You should not feel guilty for something you didn’t want to happen and can’t control.
  • Make sure to keep taking part in activities that you enjoy or used to enjoy. Even if you don’t think you will enjoy something, once you get into it, you may start having fun.
  • Take steps to let your loved ones know that you care. You can express your caring in little ways: write a card, leave a small gift, or phone someone and say hello.

Copyright © 2022 The StayWell Company, LLC.

Source: Coping with PTSD Symptoms (va.gov)

Written Exposure Therapy: A Brief PTSD Treatment

Author(s): Denise M. Sloan, PhDBrian P. Marx, PhD

Description

Written Exposure Therapy (WET) is a brief, 5-session exposure-based psychotherapy for PTSD that is recommended by the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline. WET differs from other trauma-focused psychotherapies in its cost-efficiency and low treatment drop out.

This course reviews the theoretical mechanisms and development of WET, presenting the supporting and on-going research for WET as an evidence-based treatment for PTSD. The authors provide a comprehensive description of the WET protocol and its delivery and describe the type of patient who would be a good candidate.

Goals and Objectives

  • Describe PTSD treatment
  • Discuss WET development
  • Describe on-going and future-planned WET studies
  • Identify appropriate patients for WET

Find a Therapist

Available en Español

Good treatments for PTSD are available. Here are some suggestions for finding a therapist, counselor, or mental health care provider who can help your recovery.

Things to Consider

  • If you are a Veteran, see Help for Veterans.
  • Make sure the provider has experience treating people who have been through a trauma.
  • Try to find a provider who focuses on evidence-based medications for PTSD or effective talk therapy for PTSD, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
  • Find out what type(s) of insurance the provider accepts and what you will have to pay (out-of-pocket costs) for care.
  • You may find more than one therapist. Learn about Types of Therapists.

First steps

  • Contact your family doctor to ask for a recommendation. Or, ask friends and family if they can recommend a therapist.
  • If you have health insurance, call to find out which mental health providers your insurance company will cover. Your insurance company may require that you choose a provider from among a list they maintain.

Finding a Provider Using the Internet

These resources can help you locate a therapist, counselor, or mental health provider who is right for you. Note: These resources can be used by anyone, and if you are a Veteran, see the “Help for Veterans” section below.

  • Sidran Institute Help DeskLink will take you outside the VA website. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site. will help you find therapists who specialize in trauma treatment. Email or call the Help Desk at (410) 825-8888.
  • Anxiety and Depression Association of America offers a therapist search by location and mental health disorder. Call (240) 485-1011 or email.
  • EMDR International AssociationLink will take you outside the VA website. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site. has a locator that lists EMDR providers.
  • ISTSS Clinician DirectoryLink will take you outside the VA website. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site. is a service provided by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) that lets you consider many factors in searching for a clinician, counselor, or mental health professional.
  • American Psychological AssociationLink will take you outside the VA website. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site. has a Psychologist Locator that allows you to search by location, specialty, insurance accepted, and gender of provider.
  • Psychology TodayLink will take you outside the VA website. VA is not responsible for the content of the linked site. offers a therapist directory by location. You can also find treatment centers.
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a Behavioral Health Services Locator by location and type of facility (inpatient, outpatient, residential). Call for assistance 24 hours a day 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

GET HELP FOR PTSD

If you need help right away:

  • Call 1-800-273-8255
    Press “1” if you are a Veteran.
  • Chat online with a counselor.
  • Call 911 or visit a local emergency room

Resource: https://www.ptsd.va.gov/gethelp/find_therapist.asp

After a Trauma: Take Time to Heal

Recovery

When you go through a trauma, it’s understandable that you might either feel numb or have strong feelings, including fear, guilt, confusion, or anger. It’s also common to be hard on yourself if you’re not getting better. Healing from trauma is a process that doesn’t happen overnight, or even—for many—in a few days or weeks.

Reach Out

It’s easy to avoid people and become isolated, but when you make an effort to connect with others, especially those who have been through similar experiences or who help you to continue on a positive path, the weight of the trauma might start to feel lighter.

Practice Relaxation Methods

You can sometimes feel anxious after a trauma, and calming activities can help. What activities put your body and mind at ease, even for just a little while? Is it swimming, reading, meditating? Do you enjoy creating art or playing music? Spending time with a pet? All these relaxation methods are worth a try.

What to Watch Out For

Don’t get caught up in negative ways of coping. Using alcohol, for example, may help you to get to sleep and forget, but it also interferes with deeper sleep cycle. In the long run, that can interfere with your health and your ability to heal. In order to feel better, it’s important to find strategies that make you feel better and help you be healthy and strong.

When You Need Extra Help

If it’s been more than a couple of months since the trauma, and your symptoms are still interfering with your life, you may need extra help. There are plenty of treatment options that can help. You can explore effective treatments online, or talk with a medical provider about the ones that are best for you.

Each person is different, so allow yourself time to process the pain, and begin to find the best ways for you to manage your reactions.

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/gethelp/coping_stress_reactions.asp

PTSD: The Best Medicine? Focus on What’s Bothering You

Treatment Can Help You Heal

It’s common to hope that PTSD symptoms will just go away over time, but this is unlikely if you’ve had symptoms for longer than a year. Even if you feel like you can handle your symptoms now, they may get worse over time. Seeking treatment and talking about a traumatic event may seem hard, but confronting difficult memories can help you heal and move forward.

Trauma-Focused Psychotherapies

With trauma-focused psychotherapy you work with a trained provider to face exactly what is bothering you.

There are three specific treatments that have the strongest scientific evidence showing they are safe and proven to work. These therapies are:

·         Cognitive Processing Therapy

·         Prolonged Exposure

·         Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Each therapy is different, but they all teach you how to process your trauma-related thoughts, memories, and feelings so that you can move on. For more on how these therapies work and evidence-based treatment watch our short, informative videos.

Treatment: What to Expect

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

After a trauma, it’s common to have negative thoughts — like thinking what happened is your fault or that the world is very dangerous. CPT helps you learn to identify and change these thoughts. Changing how you think about the trauma can help change how you feel.

“Before, I had my blinders on and I’d see all the things I had [done] wrong. And now, when I go through it, I see the experience as a whole… The way I think about this completely changed.”

– Christopher J. Tyler, US Army (1996-2004)

Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)

People with PTSD often work hard to avoid traumatic memories and things that remind them of the trauma. This can help you feel better in the moment, but in the long term it can keep you from recovering from PTSD by preventing you from processing what happened to you. In PE, you expose yourself to the memories, feelings, and situations that you’ve been avoiding. It sounds scary, but facing things you’re afraid of in a safe way can help you learn that you don’t need to avoid reminders of the trauma.

“It unlocks the ugly stuff. It’s in there eating away at you anyway, so it’s better just to purge it in your therapist’s office. Honestly it felt like a weight off of my shoulders. It was phenomenal.”

– Sarah Humphries, US Army (1994-2012)

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR can help you process upsetting memories, thoughts and feelings by having you focus on images of the trauma. At the same time, the therapist introduces brief sets of back-and-forth eye movements, taps or tones. This helps your brain work through the traumatic memories. Over time, it changes how you react to memories of your trauma and how you feel about yourself.

“My traumatic thoughts don’t come to the forefront of my everyday life and consume my thoughts…they have been processed and placed into long- term memory, where they belong.”

– Rogelio “Roger” Rodriquez, Jr., US Navy (1987-1993), US Air Force (1993 – 2013)

AboutFace: Veterans Talk About Getting Help

To hear more about these and other Veterans’ experiences with trauma-focused psychotherapies visit AboutFace, where Veterans who have been through them, will tell you about their experience.

How Can You Decide Which Treatment is Right for You?

The online PTSD Treatment Decision Aid is a great way to learn about your options and consider which treatment is right for you. You can watch videos of providers explaining how treatments work, then build a personalized comparison chart of the treatments that appeal to you. You can share a printout of the chart with your provider as you decide together which treatment best meets your needs.

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Produced by VA’s National Center for PTSD

PTSD: National Center for PTSD

We are the world’s leading research and educational center of excellence on PTSD and traumatic stress.
PTSD is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after this type of event. If symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. The good news is that there are effective treatments.

Get Help, NOW!

Ways to get help.

  • Get Help in a Crisis
    The National Center for PTSD provides links and information to help you locate VA and other mental health services in your area.
  • Find a therapist.
    Describes types of professionals who provide therapy and medication for PTSD and trauma issues.
  • Self-Help and Coping
    Find out what to expect after a trauma and about self-help tools that can help you manage stress reactions.

Help for Veterans

  • Care for Women Veterans
    Describes VA services offered to women Veterans, including the Women Veterans Health Care Program.
  • PTSD Treatment Programs
    Information on specialized treatment for PTSD within VA Medical Centers.
  • VA Benefits and Claims
    Answers to some questions about PTSD and service-connected disability that are frequently asked by veterans. Provides information about resources for treatment.

Getting immediate help for PTSD:

If you need help right away:

  • Call 1-800-273-8255
    Press “1” if you are a Veteran.
  • Chat online with a counselor.
  • Call 911 or visit a local emergency room.

June is PTSD Awareness Month 2

PTSD is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault. It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after this type of event. If symptoms last more than a few months, it may be PTSD. The good news is that there are effective treatments.

It’s normal to have upsetting memories, feel on edge, or have trouble sleeping after a traumatic event. At first, it may be hard to do normal daily activities, like go to work, go to school, or spend time with people you care about. But most people start to feel better after a few weeks or months.
If it’s been longer than a few months and you’re still having symptoms, you may have PTSD. For some people, PTSD symptoms may start later on, or they may come and go over time.

Anyone can develop PTSD at any age. A number of factors can increase the chance that someone will have PTSD, many of which are not under that person’s control. For example, having a very intense or long-lasting traumatic event or getting injured during the event can make it more likely that a person will develop PTSD. PTSD is also more common after certain types of trauma, like combat and sexual assault.


Personal factors, like previous traumatic exposure, age, and gender, can affect whether or not a person will develop PTSD. What happens after the traumatic event is also important. Stress can make PTSD more likely, while social support can make it less likely.

There are many different treatment options for PTSD. For many people, these treatments can get rid of symptoms altogether. Others find they have fewer symptoms or feel that their symptoms are less intense. Your symptoms don’t have to interfere with your everyday activities, work, and relationships.  Get help, now!

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/ptsd_basics.asp

 

PTSD: Medications and Other Options

Medications and Psychotherapy Options for Veterans

When you have PTSD, it might feel like you’ll never get your life back. But it can be treated. Short and long-term psychotherapy and medications can work very well. There are many good options available to you. Although medications do not work as well as trauma-focused psychotherapies, they are a very effective way to treat PTSD.

PTSD medications

You’ve probably heard of some common PTSD medications already. The four medications that are recommended for PTSD are sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), fluoxetine (Prozac) and venlafaxine (Effexor). They are also good for treating depression and anxiety.

Because medications can be prescribed by nurse practitioners, physicians, and many other providers, they may be easier to get access to than trauma-focused psychotherapy. After you fill your prescription, you will meet with your provider every few months to talk about how you’re doing.

You should know that once you begin taking a medication, it might be a few weeks before you start to feel better. Or, you might see improvement in PTSD symptoms, but be bothered by side effects like an upset stomach, sweating, headache, and dizziness. Some people have delayed orgasm or other sexual side effects. Don’t give up. Instead, tell your provider how you are feeling. A different medication might be a better fit for you. Even though the medications are similar, people will react differently to them. If you are on other medications, your provider should take that into account so that you avoid troublesome interactions.

Talk to your health care provider

Staying in touch with your provider is important. If you want to stop taking the medication, talk to your provider. According to Dr. Nancy Bernardy, Associate Director of Clinical Networking and clinical research psychologist at the Executive Division of the National Center for PTSD, “People should not stop taking antidepressants suddenly, because they can have some withdrawal symptoms.” She says that “PTSD symptoms may return if you stop taking the medication suddenly, so make a plan with your provider to slowly taper off.”

Other treatments

While medications can be a good treatment option, trauma-focused psychotherapies work better. Research shows they can keep working long after treatment is over.

To learn about the best PTSD treatments available, Dr. Bernardy recommends using the National Center for PTSD’s Treatment Decision Aid, which includes video and other materials to help you better understand your options.

Read More

National Center for PTSD

PTSD Treatment Options Can Work with Help from My HealtheVet

Veterans:  Here is a link to the VA’s My HealtheVet.  Register with the VA and get help !

https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/web/myhealthevet/about-mhv