Some would argue that it lasts forever as the trauma that caused it will be with the person forever. There is some truth to this but others would say that the PTSD is over when the more severe symptoms go away, this could be anywhere from a matter of weeks to the rest of their life.
Full PTSD is considered a permanent injury. Anything else that goes away over time wasn't PTSD. Instead, these injuries are commonly described as "adjustment disorders", the idea being that when the person does manage to adjust to their injury, they cease to be disordered.
In medicine, the threshold for considering something to have been permanent is a duration of 5 years. However, PTSD may not even begin to manifest itself for 3 years after the causal incident, so there must be more than a certain level of doubt as to whether we can apply this threshold. It is not uncommon for psychiatrists & psychotherapists to help mature adult patients deal with the effects of incidents that occurred in early childhood. Therefore the application "permanent" may be inappropriate in the case of psychological injury.
Over time, exposure to any incident similar to the one that caused it will extend the injury of PTSD and then exposure to something similar to that will further extend it. This becomes known as Complex PTSD, when its symptoms are triggered by a number of causes. Most cases of PTSD develop to become CPTSD over time.
It is possible to reduce the impact of the injury & halt it's spread by certain psychological reprprocessing techniques. It may be many years after the causal incident before appropriate treatment is found. At present there is no recognised treatment for PTSD, only suggestions as to treatments that have reduced symptoms in a small number of cases. The majority of "treatments" have been unsuccessful with sufferers often preferring the original injury to suffering further unsuccesful treatment.
It is possible to show the physical effects of PTSD in the brains of sufferers. Usually the amygdala is somewhat enlarged and the hippocampus diminished with the link between the two weakened. The effect is that given certain stimuli, the automatic responses of the brain begin to override the conscious & chosen functioning. There is also anecdotal evidence that after time the brains of PTSD sufferers begin to function like the brains of Alzheimers sufferers, with major holes in memory and inappropriate response. Research has yet to show whether the proteins causing Alzheimers, usually concentrated in the frontal lobes of the brain also form earlier in life as a result of PTSD, in fact the protein idea itself is still only considered theoretical.
In summary therefore, PTSD appears to be a permanent injury. It is virtually impossible to get objective information as research into the effects relies almost entirely on subjective information, i.e. the statements of sufferers. Also our knowledge of the physical properties of the brain is about as advanced as our understanding of the body was over 200 years ago, i.e. rudimentary at best.
So for now, regard PTSD as about as permanent as most body illnesses were about 200 years ago.
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That is entirely up to the subject.
Some would argue that it lasts forever as the trauma that caused it will be with the person forever. There is some truth to this but others would say that the PTSD is over when the more severe symptoms go away, this could be anywhere from a matter of weeks to the rest of their life.
Full PTSD is considered a permanent injury. Anything else that goes away over time wasn't PTSD. Instead, these injuries are commonly described as "adjustment disorders", the idea being that when the person does manage to adjust to their injury, they cease to be disordered.
In medicine, the threshold for considering something to have been permanent is a duration of 5 years. However, PTSD may not even begin to manifest itself for 3 years after the causal incident, so there must be more than a certain level of doubt as to whether we can apply this threshold. It is not uncommon for psychiatrists & psychotherapists to help mature adult patients deal with the effects of incidents that occurred in early childhood. Therefore the application "permanent" may be inappropriate in the case of psychological injury.
Over time, exposure to any incident similar to the one that caused it will extend the injury of PTSD and then exposure to something similar to that will further extend it. This becomes known as Complex PTSD, when its symptoms are triggered by a number of causes. Most cases of PTSD develop to become CPTSD over time.
It is possible to reduce the impact of the injury & halt it's spread by certain psychological reprprocessing techniques. It may be many years after the causal incident before appropriate treatment is found. At present there is no recognised treatment for PTSD, only suggestions as to treatments that have reduced symptoms in a small number of cases. The majority of "treatments" have been unsuccessful with sufferers often preferring the original injury to suffering further unsuccesful treatment.
It is possible to show the physical effects of PTSD in the brains of sufferers. Usually the amygdala is somewhat enlarged and the hippocampus diminished with the link between the two weakened. The effect is that given certain stimuli, the automatic responses of the brain begin to override the conscious & chosen functioning. There is also anecdotal evidence that after time the brains of PTSD sufferers begin to function like the brains of Alzheimers sufferers, with major holes in memory and inappropriate response. Research has yet to show whether the proteins causing Alzheimers, usually concentrated in the frontal lobes of the brain also form earlier in life as a result of PTSD, in fact the protein idea itself is still only considered theoretical.
In summary therefore, PTSD appears to be a permanent injury. It is virtually impossible to get objective information as research into the effects relies almost entirely on subjective information, i.e. the statements of sufferers. Also our knowledge of the physical properties of the brain is about as advanced as our understanding of the body was over 200 years ago, i.e. rudimentary at best.
So for now, regard PTSD as about as permanent as most body illnesses were about 200 years ago.
I am doing a documentary on P.T.S.D.
I became interested in mental health when i was 13, i have P.T.S.D. so i want to make a documentary to inform people about P.T.S.D
if you would like to help me please send me a message with a recording.
in the recording please include-
name
age
when you was diagnosed with P.T.S.D
your story
healthy and unhealthy ways you cope with P.T.S.D
my email is
[email protected]
haha psychiatrists dont give a ****