June is not just another wonderfully warm and sunny month at Oceanfront Recovery; it is also national PTSD Awareness month. Nearly 8 million people worldwide will have post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lifetime, but many will not seek a PTSD treatment program. What was once referred to as “shell shock” and “combat fatigue” among veterans and men and women in combat, PTSD is now recognized as a condition that can affect anyone at any stage of life. Every June 27th, PTSD Awareness Day aims to help bring greater public understanding and education around this far-reaching silent disorder to help foster conversation and treatment, reducing the stigma surrounding PTSD.

If you or someone you love is experiencing the effects of PTSD and would like to hear how Oceanfront Recovery’s program for PTSD and substance abuse recovery can help, please call our office at 877.279.1777 to speak to our treatment specialists.

Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Many people experience PTSD after living through or witnessing traumatic events ranging from your own near-death experience to witnessing another’s death to surviving a natural disaster or public tragedy. For some, a traumatic event is processed in one to three months. For others, the effects linger in the form of post-traumatic stress disorder. These effects may present immediately after a traumatic incident or develop months later. Interestingly symptoms are two times more likely to occur in women than men. More often than not, PTSD symptoms include anxiety, depression, and substance abuse that mask the underlying traumatic experience.

Recognizing Signs of Post-Traumatic Stress

Among the common signs and symptoms of PTSD you may experience:

Re-experiencing: Re-experiencing a traumatic event can include nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, or anything that makes your body feel you’re re-experiencing the initial trauma all over again. While your mind may be aware a situation is safe, your body registers these repetitive experiences and memories so vividly you feel like the trauma is relived. This may even include repressed traumatic incidents you can’t remember triggering somatic responses that don’t seem to make sense.
Avoidance: Avoidance includes aversion from people, places, and anniversaries related to a traumatic event. In some cases, you may force yourself not to think about it or talk about the initial trauma as if it never happened.
Cognition and Mood: PTSD can negatively affect thoughts and feelings and present a range of emotions from paranoia, horror, and fear to guilt, shame, and sadness. Mood changes may happen frequently, and you may also disassociate, alienating yourself from friends, family, and activities you love.
Arousal and Reactivity: Just as PTSD can repress emotion, it can also leave you in a constant state of fight or flight. This hyper-awareness may make you angry, irritable, jumpy, or drawn to more reckless behavior, including substance use or self-harm. While arousal and reactivity to your environment are normal, when PTSD is present, you may find it hard to sit still or relax throughout the day.

During June’s PTSD Awareness Month, Oceanfront Recovery is here to help educate and provide therapy programs to help those suffering and their loved ones understand and treat PTSD. Our program aims to help individuals break cycles of substance use due to post-traumatic stress and include individualized plans for addiction and PTSD treatment simultaneously.

Get Treatment for PTSD at Oceanfront Recovery Today

Are you or a loved one experiencing the effects of PTSD? If any of the symptoms above have persisted for more than three months, our treatment program may be right for you. Contact us today at 877.279.1777 or complete our secure online form for a confidential conversation with our intake specialists. Let Oceanfront Recovery in beautiful Laguna Beach, California, help you take the first steps towards trauma recovery.