PTSD can stop you from living a full, happy life. With the help of a psychotherapist, you can learn techniquest to reframe your memories and better cope so you can regain your quality of life. Take the first step toward addressing PTSD.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can cause paralyzing and disabling flashbacks of a previous traumatic event. Without appropriate management, PTSD flashbacks can prevent you from socializing, working, enjoying life, and even leaving the house.
PTSD alters the structure of your brain. With the help of a mental health professional, people with PTSD can reduce and control flashbacks, which is key to functioning better and recovering from the disorder.
At Houston Medical Mental Health Clinic, board-certified mental health care nurse practitioner Lucas E Egebe, DNP is specially trained to help clients improve PTSD symptoms such as nightmares, panic attacks, and flashbacks. We take a comprehensive approach to helping clients conquer PTSD.
If you suffer from PTSD, our team can provide the support, guidance, and tools to help you feel better and restore your functioning..
Understanding PTSD
The initial step in addressing PTSD and flashbacks is gaining a deeper understanding of how PTSD impacts your brain.
First, posttraumatic stress disorder develops in response to experiencing or witnessing a traumatic incident. Sometimes the cause is readily apparent, such as a car crash, sexual assault, or robbery. However, it can also be caused by things like childhood bullying and food insecurity.
Regardless of the cause, PTSD can alter brain function, particularly in relation to the mechanisms designed to help you survive. When a person has PTSD, this system becomes hypersensitive, triggered by things like smells or sights that are similar to what you experienced during the traumatic event. However, it does not end there.
In response, other regions of your brain, particularly those involved in memory and cognition, function differently.
Consequently, PTSD can make it difficult to distinguish between a safe moment occurring in the present and a dangerous event that occurred in the past. These instances, known as flashbacks, might cause you to feel or act as if the terrible incident is reoccurring..
Recognizing your triggers
Determining what triggers your flashbacks, whether they be internal sensation or things like sights and sounds, plays an important role in managing flashbacks. Our team can assist you in identifying your triggers and help you manage the way your brain responds to them.
We can also help you recognize the warning signals of a flashback. While flashbacks may seem to appear out of nowhere, they often present small warnings beforehand, such as things appearing hazy or a loss of awareness of your surroundings.
If you can recognize the indicators of a flashback, you can gain control and remain present. Grounding measures are designed to help you stay in the now. This is crucial for people with PTSD. These techniques rely on the use of your senses to bring you back to the present. .
Managing PTSD
Trauma-focused psychotherapy, a form of cognitive behavior therapy specific to PTSD, is the most effective approach to treating post-traumatic stress disorder. This approach emphasizes understanding how the traumatic experience impacts your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Therapy provides skills and strategies to assist you in coping with, and processing emotions and memories associated with, traumatic experiences, with the ultimate goal of enabling you to create an interpretation of the experience that helps you recover.
Therapy may involve imagining, discussing, or contemplating distressing memories. Your therapist may help you concentrate on altering unhelpful assumptions regarding the trauma.
You don’t have to face PTSD alone. We’re dedicated to helping clients live happier, fuller, more meaningful lives. When you pick Houston Medical Mental Health Clinic, you’ll receive a dynamic blend of clinical services of the highest caliber along with comprehensive, compassionate care.
Our PTSD program utilizes evidence-based, research-supported therapy therapies. Call or message our Houston, Texas, office today to learn more about our approach to treating PTSD.